(BOSTON) - Labor Unions, Stung by Legislative Maneuvering to Ease Privatization at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), are Targeting Top House Democrats, Meeting Privately To Strategize and Discussing the Possibility of Running More Pro-Union Candidates Against Incumbents.  In Fact, One Union Official Even Proposed Picketing a Democrat’s Fund-Raiser.

About 45 Top Labor Officials and Activists Met This Week at a Boston Electricians’ Union Hall in an “Emergency Meeting” During Which Some Attendees Strongly Advocated Finding Challengers to Democratic Lawmakers Who’d Sided Against Organized Labor in the Recent Budget Fight, According to People Familiar With the Proceedings.

The Rare Display of Raw Friction Between Democrats and a Key Ally Comes After Party Leaders Ratified a State Budget That Included a Major Setback for Organized Labor, Paving the Way for Wider Privatization at the MBTA After a Winter of Slowed and Canceled Service - a Measure Organized Labor Fears Will Hand Government Work to Non-Union Workers.

In an E-Mail to Other Union Leaders That Was Obtained by The Globe, Michael Monahan – Who Serves as International Vice President of the International Brotherhood Of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Called for Picketing Outside a Fundraiser Hosted by House Speaker Robert DeLeo.  The Event’s Purpose is to Raise Campaign Money for Representative Michael Moran, a Brighton Democrat and Member of DeLeo’s Leadership Team.

“The Event Should be Picketed and Shame On Anyone Who Rewards What We Discussed Today!,” Monahan Wrote in the E-Mail, Which Was Addressed to State AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman and Copied to Senior AFL-CIO Official Robert Bower, Professional Fire Fighters Of Massachusetts President Edward Kelly and Moran.

In A Telephone Interview, Monahan Declined to Discuss Future Political Plans - But said: “At Points in Our Life, We Make Decisions and We Either Go Right or Left.  People Need to be Held Accountable for Their Actions.”

Tolman Called Moran a Friend and said he Doubted Unions Would Picket His Fund-Raiser. Picket Lines are Often Viewed as a Last-Resort Gambit Against Employers or Politicians Unfriendly to Unions, and Many Democrats Consider Crossing Them a Venal Political Sin.

Asked if Individual Lawmakers’ Names Had Been Mentioned During the Meeting, Tolman Replied: “There May Have Been, But There Was No Definitive Action Decided.  There Was a General Consensus That We Do Not Have The Friends We Thought We Had.”

Unions Were Angered Earlier This Month When the House and Senate Voted to Suspend for Three Years the Pacheco Law for the MBTA, Which Forces Officials to Justify How Outsourcing Services Would Save Money Over Having Public Employees Perform the Work in “The Most Cost-Efficient” Way Possible.

That Vote Came After a Winter in Which, Amid Historic Cold and Snowfall, Public Transportation Service Often Ground to a Halt.

You Can Read the Rest of This Labor News Story at: www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/07/16/unions-target-top-house-democrats/hYNNipPVtGwoMkr0cbYYwO/story.html?s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Afacebook#