Federal employees protest government shutdown in Philly on Tuesday

Demonstrators are at Independence National Historic Park

Park Rangers in Independence National Historical Park.
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice

Federal employees gathered Tuesday morning to protest the government shutdown and pay freeze in front of Independence Park in Philadelphia. 

According to a post on Facebook, the rally was scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. by the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union. By 11 a.m., the Inquirer reported about 150 people showed up to protest the national shutdown that has been affecting thousands of government employees for weeks

AFGE represents about 700,000 federal and D.C. government workers nationwide, including approximately 10,000 workers in Philadelphia. 

Pennsylvania congressional representatives Dwight Evans, Brendan Boyle, Brian Fitzpatrick, and Mary Gay Scanlon attended the rally.

Representatives from unions across the U.S. have also made comments on the shutdown as the crisis enters its third week with no end in sight. 

President Donald Trump will make a televised statement on the shutdown and the border wall with Mexico on Tuesday. Then on Thursday, the president will travel to the border and may declare a national emergency. 


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