But trade union official Antonis Dalakogiorgos was quoted as saying that seamen would resist the government orders.

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"I've always been a trade union official of some sort, either a shop steward or a safety rep, " he said.

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Labour's Baroness Turner of Camden, 83, a former trade union official, had been taken ill with severe back pains, according to Lords officials, and paramedics had been called.

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