Governor proposes one of those little paper-cut bandages for MBTA hemorrhaging

> now something like almost 25% of the state's workers are making
> over 6 figures

Holy cow! Over six figure means seven figure. And seven figure means over one million a year. I want one of these fabulous $million+ state salaries too. ;~}

But -- agreed that this is a pretty pathetic response to a problem that needs a real solution.

4) Go to 1.

divert funds from MBTA capital projects to keep the system operating instead of raiding unused snow removal funds that should be set aside as a hedge against next winter's possible expenses.

Where on earth did you get the idea that T employees get bonuses?

The T mess has been summarized at various times. The "D'Allesandro Report" from November 2009 has this summary of staffing costs:

The MBTA currently employs 6,346 workers, of which roughly 600 are
in part-time jobs.

All but 263 of these workers are represented by one of 28 unions.
• Total headcount at the MBTA is actually down by approximately
200 since the Forward Funding Plan began, while total payroll and
benefits costs have increased.
• Total payroll and benefits costs increased from $412.8M to
$548.9M between FY01 and FY08 due to increases in wage, health
care and pension costs.
• This cumulatively exceeded Finance Plan projections by $113M.
• Between FY01 and FY08, the unionized workers received
average annual wage increases of 3.0%, while MBTA executives
received average annual increases of 1.9%.
• Non-union MBTA employees have not received wage increases
since 2005.
• Wage increases for union workers are comparable to the 3.5%
annual growth in the Consumer Price Index-Urban Boston and
Massachusetts median household income for the same time period.
• The MBTA’s wage rates and total wage costs are similar to those
of other top U.S. transit systems, as is shown in the table at left.

and

MBTA Hourly Wages: Comparison of Ten Largest Transit Agencies
Transit System || Operator Top Rate
San Francisco || $29.19
New York City || $26.92
Chicago || $26.87
Boston || $26.56
Washington || $25.93
Seattle || $25.34
New Jersey || $24.27
Philadelphia || $23.54
Los Angeles || $21.27
Atlanta || $19.25
(As of 1/2008)

The Herald recently stated that the MBTA has 5,984 employees, of which 631 are earning $100,000 or more. Davey has stated that they are at an all-time low for staff. Instead of hiring they've been relying on overtime. Last year's snow resulted in a lot of OT for mechanics (remember the hairnets?).

According to the Herald's data from 2010 of the top 40 earners 22 of them were Transit Police. This mirrors what you'll see if you look at the top earners of every municipal govt in the Commonwealth (with the possible exception of the Housing guy in Chelsea) -- and yet I don't see anyone parroting the mantra of cut the cops! cut the cops!

There is a plan afoot to transfer the T Police to the Staties which would take them off the MBTA's budget and remove a bunch of the most feared and hated creatures this side of the Nasgûl, the SIX FIGURE PUBLIC SERVANTS. Of course we'll still be paying them. Probably paying them more actually because we'll have to spring for the Smoky Bear hats and jackboots (and I suspect Staties have a better deal than T cops generally, but someone else would have to confirm that).

I think we could go with CityYear kids and the guys who sell Spare Change and save lots of money. How hard can it be to drive a bus full of precious snow flakes? And just think of all the money we'd save. Fire all the staff of the MBTA and run it with volunteers and hobos and you'd be all set!