ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO (AP) -- New Mexico union leaders are accusing the governor of targeting their members in state layoffs.
The Albuquerque Journal this morning reports that Michelle Lewis, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 7076, got a pink slip Friday along with 43 other state workers.
Lewis and Christine Trujillo, president of the New Mexico Federation of Labor, told the paper they think the layoffs are an attack on unions.
Gov. Susana Martinez's office says the administration is simply streamlining bureaucracies and spending because of budget problems.
Most of the layoffs announced Friday came from the Public Education Department, whose budget was slashed by more than 20 percent this year.
Unions and Martinez clashed earlier this year over her removal of members of the Public Employee Labor Relations Board.
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