NJ Electrician Attacked

A nonunion New Jersey electrician working on the city's waterfront claims he was punched by a man who called him a scab and threw some of his materials into the water, police said.

Sean Brown, 30, said his injury required seven stitches below his right eyebrow.

Brown told police that he was working at Penn's Landing next to the restaurant ship Moshulu when eight men wearing electricians' tools approached the site, threw 10 large spools of wire into the river and punched him. The spools, which were worth thousands of dollars, were later retrieved.

Brown said he believed they were members of organized labor because they called him a scab. He was unable to identify his assailant, who fled to a nearby construction site.

Officials at the largest electricians' union in the area, Local 98, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Brown and three others from Academy Electric in Pennsauken, N.J., were hired by the Moshulu's owners to hook up heavy-duty electric lines.

Author: 6 ABC-AP