SEAMAN SUES HIS UNION.

Colonist, Volume LXII, Issue 15306, 20 February 1920, Page 6

SEAMAN SUES HIS UNION.

ALLEGED "WRONGFUL EXPULSION.

[Per United Press Association.]

Wellington, Feb. 19. j A ease is being heard in the Supreme ' iOourb in which a seaman, James Mac- j gregor, claims £1000 as damages from; ffche Wellington Seanien's Union on the : ground that plaintiff was wrongfully; expelled from tlie union, which expul-; 'sion had since prevented him from fol-; J6\ving his asual occupation. Accord-: (ing to counsel, some time in December She-plaintiff was on the steamer Jon~n v »"a which was also a young fellow named Simpson. A complaint was made that &he last-named was not a member ef the union an 3 plaintiff offered to pay j siis subscription. The offer was refused. ', !lJat&r the plaintiff complained to the assistant secretary of the union regardBrig the matter, and the assistant secretary demanded from Macgregor the amount of the latter's subscriptions then due. Macgregor went to the union office, paid the money, and said the assistant secretary should go a*out his business in a more.sober manner. Ha did not mean, in any sense, that, the assistant secretary was drunk. Next day the executive of the union met, and Maegregor'was told to apologise to the acting secretary. He declined to do so, and he was expelled from the union, bxLk fee denied receiving notice of expulsion. It was alleged that, at the > inistanee of the union, he was prevented i£ro£a shipping on various coastal steamers, under thethreat that if he was employed the crews would come out.