Some days when Sally Schuster goes to work at her office in Northeast Philadelphia, she and her coworkers light boots on fire.

Other days, they test camouflage visibility at different wavelengths. And sometimes, they simply make sure uniform colors match.

“Basically we ensure troop safety,” said Schuster, a chemist at a Defense Logistics Agency product test center.

Schuster and about two dozen other members of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 62 stood in the rain on Cottman Avenue near Bustleton Avenue on Saturday afternoon to protest President Donald Trump’s efforts to fire federal workers and strip them of their collective bargaining rights. Chanting “What’s disgusting? Union busting!” and holding signs, they sought the attention of passing drivers, many of whom honked their approval.

“Government workers serve the people,” said Schuster, 49, a Wyncote resident who has worked for the federal government for 20 years. “There’s lots and lots of departments that nobody knows we exist but if we disappear it’s going to hurt the whole country.”

The Trump administration on March 27 announced it was attempting to remove union rights for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, contending that U.S. labor law authorizes the president to forgo collective bargaining with employees whose work is critical to national security.

Lawsuits challenging the move are pending in U.S. District Court. A federal judge on Friday blocked the administration’s efforts to strip bargaining rights from members of the National Treasury Employees Union. But the federal government has already stopped withholding union dues from the paychecks of members of Local 62 and other unions.

Local 62 represents about 4,000 civilian employees at the DLA location at 7200 Robbins Ave., union president Candis Ralph said. Employees there include contract and logistics specialists that manage supply chains for the military, working with companies to secure uniforms, foods, medical supplies, and other items. About two-thirds are veterans, Ralph estimated.

“We contract only American sources for every single uniform,” Ralph said Friday. “Every single uniform component that a military member wears comes out of (Defense Logistics Agency) Troop Support. We provide those contracts to get those items.”

The Department of Defense, which includes the DLA, has one of the largest shares of federal workers in Pennsylvania. About 7,900 federal employees in the state worked for the Department of Defense as of September, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management.

“Our workers are essential, and we do work very hard,” Ralph said. “I want people to understand that these are your neighbors, these are family, these are your friends. Just as hard as a person who works a civilian job outside in a grocery store or in the private sector, we work just as hard.”

Tiffany Nguyen, a vendor logistics specialist, said she has already had coworkers fired in what appeared to be “just random terminations” justified as “budget cutbacks.”

“We’re out here to form solidarity,” said Nguyen, 27, who lives in North Philadelphia. “We’re out here to spread awareness about the union-busting.”

Nguyen, the Local 62 treasurer, said she was not afraid of being targeted for publicly protesting the Trump administration. Schuster, on the other hand, said she was very much afraid — but also felt she could not remain silent.

“I can’t sit back,” Schuster said. “If I’m going to lose my job, I’m going to put up a fight.”

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