Romney Adviser Faulted Bain While at Labor Board It is has become a staple of Mitt Romney's campaign stump speech: the claim that appointees to the National Labor Relations Board are "labor stooges" whose anti-business approach has impeded economic growth. But a top adviser to Mr. Romney's presidential campaign has his own intriguing relationship with the labor board: as a member in the early 2000s, he found that two companies controlled by Bain Capital, the private equity firm founded by Mr. Romney, had violated labor rules. At the time, Peter Schaumber, now the co-chairman of Mr. Romney's labor advisory team, served as an appointee of President George W. Bush. The board, a federal agency, safeguards workers" right to unionize. In both cases, Mr. Schaumber signed opinions that found the companies, Nutraceutical International and the Walco International Company, had engaged in unfair labor practices. Mr. Romney was the chief executive of Bain Capital when the firm originally invested in the two companies, but had left by the time of the labor board rulings. As The New York Times has reported, he continued to earn a share of Bain Capital's profits for at least a decade after his retirement in 1999. Mr. Schaumber co-wrote an opinion finding that that Neutraceutical, a maker of nutritional supplements, had improperly closed a store in 2003 - and fired 31 workers - to prevent employees from establishing a union. Mr. Schaumber also attached his name to a ruling that Walco International, a distributor of pet and livestock supplies, had failed to recognize and bargain with a newly formed union that same year. Mr. Schuamber's rulings could prove tricky for Mr. Romney, since they serve as a reminder of the sometimes messy consequences of Bain investments. And by naming Mr. Schaumber as a campaign adviser, Mr. Romney may be undercutting his stinging critique of the board's members. Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Mr. Romney's campaign, did not address Mr. Schaumber's role at the N.L.R.B., but said that the candidate stood by his remarks about the board. "Governor Romney's extensive business experience has given him a deep understanding of how the economy works and how jobs are created, and that includes the effects of labor policy," she said. He supports strong protections for worker rights, which are being undermined by President Obama's labor stooges as they use the National Labor Relations Board to increase the power of union bosses over businesses and workers. Mr. Romney has relentlessly attacked the N.L.R.B. as "out of control" and "unaccountable," under President Obama, even suggesting it should be eliminated. This week, he intensified that critique, calling President Obama a "crony capitalist" or appointing three members of the board without Congressional approval. He said the appointments were a reward for labor unions who had endorsed him in 2008. In a series of new TV and radio advertisements running in South Carolina, he even calls the N.L.R.B."s recent ruling against opening a proposed Boeing plant in the state "un-American."