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Federal workers to protest government shutdown in Philly Tuesday morning

Federal worker unions AFGE and NTEU, which represent roughly 15,000 workers in the region, are organizing the protest.

Transportation Security Administration officers work at a checkpoint at O'Hare airport in Chicago, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. They're represented by one of the unions that is organizing a rally in Philadelphia Tuesday morning to protest the shutdown and government worker pay freeze.
Transportation Security Administration officers work at a checkpoint at O'Hare airport in Chicago, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. They're represented by one of the unions that is organizing a rally in Philadelphia Tuesday morning to protest the shutdown and government worker pay freeze.Read moreNam Y. Huh / AP

Federal workers plan to rally Tuesday morning at Independence National Historical Park to protest the partial government shutdown and pay freeze.

The rally is being organized by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents about 10,000 workers in Philadelphia, including Transportation Security Administration agents, Department of Housing and Urban Development employees, and correctional officers, and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), representing more than 5,000 employees locally. Since the shutdown began on Dec. 22 in a dispute over President Donald Trump’s proposal to build a wall between Mexico and the United States, thousands of federal workers have either been furloughed or are working without pay.

The protest precedes another planned by the federal unions for Thursday morning in Washington outside AFL-CIO headquarters. Union members are circulating information about the protests on Facebook. NTEU plans to take local members to the D.C. protest by bus.

Union leaders say they aren’t sure how many to expect at the Philly protest, in part because some might not be able to afford to come. Phil Glover, president of the AFGE district covering Pennsylvania and Delaware, says some politicians, including Reps. Brendan Boyle and Dwight Evans, both Democrats, are expected to attend.

With more than 45,000 federal employees in the Philadelphia metro area, the region has one of the largest concentrations of government workers outside of the Washington area.

The next scheduled payday for federal workers is Friday. Glover said he does not expect his members to get paid and has been advising them to inquire about unemployment benefits with their states of residence. Alex Jay Berman, a NTEU leader, said he’s telling his members that it’s a personal choice , as they may ultimately have to pay back unemployment benefits if they get back pay.