A state board that adjudicates labor disputes has been stripped of its funding by the Patrick administration, and two of its members claim the panel is being punished for hurting unions that heavily backed the governor's election bid.
With no money in its budget for next year, the state's Labor Relations Commission is now facing possible elimination, a move that the two commissioners say is part of an illegal effort by Patrick aides to influence the outcome of labor cases.
"We believe the abrupt, last-minute elimination of our budget, and the administration's expressed displeasure with recent commission decisions . . . (constitute) intentional and inappropriate retaliatory conduct," wrote commissioners Hugh Reilly and Paul O'Neill, who penned a March 27 letter to Patrick's legal counsel, Ben Clements.
O'Neill and Reilly, both appointees of former Gov. Mitt Romney, have charged that Patrick's budget maneuvers came in retaliation for their handling of cases involving the Boston Teachers Union and Service Employees International Union. Both unions funneled hefty cash donations to Patrick's campaign.
The big union quid pro quos have begun.
