by Section 40 » Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:37 pm
Crying poor-mouth as it looks to jack up fares and slash services, the MBTA has hired nearly 900 new employees over the past two years while doling out $100,000-plus to hundreds in salaries and overtime, a Herald payroll review found.
T officials last year said they were ponying up more for overtime rather than hiring new staff. Yet, the T’s latest payroll report provided to the Herald shows the transit agency has hired 871 new employees over the past two years, even as more staffers are racking up six-figure salaries leavened by OT.
Those hires, T spokesman Joe Pesaturo said, were for “safety” and to “maintain services” on the quasi-public state agency as it faces a $161 million budget deficit.
All told, 631 T staffers hauled in $100,000 or more last year in salary and overtime, up nearly 20 percent from the 531 who raked in six-figure pay in 2010.