"MBTA rescinds 9% raises for top earners; Boost for nonunion staff drew widespread criticism" by Noah Bierman, Globe Staff | August 20, 2008
After a public rebuke from the Patrick administration, MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas agreed yesterday to rescind a 9 percent pay raise for executive employees that had been criticized as excessive for an agency struggling to pay its bills.
Type "MBTA" into my blog search and see what comes up.
Grabauskas, who makes $255,000, also said he would decline a $10,000 cost-of-living increase due under his contract this year. The MBTA's general counsel, William Mitchell, who makes $157,000, is also declining a cost-of-living raise of about $6,000, according to the T.
State is BILLIONS in the hole and BORROWING like no tomorrow, but these guys keep dipping their bills.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority carries an $8.2 billion debt load and is struggling to keep a balanced budget. Earlier this month, Grabauskas warned of a substantial fare increase on subways, buses, and trains in 2010 unless he receives help with the debt from the Legislature.
Whatever happens, taxpayers pooched in the poop shoot!
Grabauskas is one of the most visible Republicans left in state government, running a widely used system that has recently been beset by controversy, including a fatal Green Line crash, a skirmish with hackers, and the prospect of fare increases. His contract runs through May 2010, making it both financially and politically difficult for the Democratic administration to buy him out if the governor decides he wants a new leader.
Well, that's sad. Giving us all a black eye, jerk!
Rescinding the raises does not solve the MBTA's larger budget problems. The T still has to pay cost of living increases for 96 percent of its employees, or about 6,000 people, who belong to unions. That is expected to cost some $150 million over the next two years, according to earlier estimates.
Last month, an arbitrator settled a contract between the MBTA and the Boston Carmen's Union, Local 589, the largest of the T's unions. The MBTA also realized some smaller long-term savings from the arbitrator's ruling. Active workers now have to pay higher deductibles when visiting doctors, and retirees have to pay a portion of their health insurance costs for the first time ever.
I know it is state money, but the labor guy always gets screwed!
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