Dozens of Philadelphia workers from the Department of Veterans Affairs gathered Thursday under an unyielding sun chanting: “Save our jobs, save our vets.”

Come lunchtime, allies and members of the American Federation of Government Employees arrived at Baltimore and University Avenues, outside the Cpl. Michael J. Crescenz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, for a rally to protect the members’ union contract and benefits amid a shake-up of federal agencies by President Donald Trump’s administration.

“We have federal employees who have devoted their lives to take care of America and the thanks we get is … reductions, downsize on our pay, downgrading positions,” said Karen Ford Woods, president of AFGE Local 1793. “When you take away our jobs, you take away service to America.”

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