The reluctance to let go of the current system led to accusations by the annexationists that the upper class was coercing the working class Irishmen into siding with them, since the Irish immigrants relied on the ruling elite to supply them with jobs. The truth, however, is that it was in the Irishmen's best interest to keep Brookline separated from Boston. If the status quo did not change, Brookline's Irishmen would maintain their monopoly over all the manual labor done in the town. Thus, they benefited from the continual separation between the two communities.