A non-union electrician claimed that he was assaulted by a Philadelphia union leader and others during a street fight last month.
According to a NBC report, Joshua Keesee told police he was working at a job in South Philadelphia that was being picketed by John Dougherty’s IBEW Local 98 on Jan. 21. The electrician said he was on the street around 8:30 a.m. that day when he was approached by Dougherty and three other men. Keesee told police they began arguing over a union sticker that was attached to his vehicle.
He said the argument escalated into violence, and Keesee accused Dougherty and the three men of punching and kicking him. He then said they fled in a Lincoln Navigator. Keesee refused medical treatment but still filed a police report which prompted an investigation, the NBC report stated.
Keesee’s attorney Robert Mozenter told NBC10 the altercation stemmed from the fact that his client is not a union worker. Dougherty’s spokesman Frank Keel told NBC10 the union leader was acting in self-defense, however, after Keesee threatened him.
