February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Pierce O’Reilly
An Irish construction worker in Manhattan was viciously attacked on a job site on Thursday morning, March 8.
According to police, Sean O’Glionan, a native of County Galway, had arrived early at a non-union job site on the West Side when a man entered the site hut at 7:10 a.m. and asked him to come outside. When O’Glionan left the hut, he was jumped by at least five other accomplices who punched and kicked him, he said.
"I was in such shock I didn’t know what was happening," O’Glionan said later.
O’Glionan received several cuts to the face and body. The men escaped on foot. O’Glionan was rushed to St. Vincent Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries.
O’Glionan, who works for the Manhattan-based construction company Alcon, said he didn’t get a good look at his attackers and would be unable to name them in a lineup.
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"They caught me by complete surprise [and] before I knew what was happening I was on the ground," he said.
The site is non-union. It has been the subject of several union pickets over the last few days and co-workers of O’Glionan say they feel the attack may have occurred because they crossed the picket lines.
"It’s a disgrace if they’re behind this assault," an Alcon worker said. "This is a free country and you can work wherever and whenever you like. We’re all outraged that assaults like this are still taking place in New York City. Something must be done to stop them."