MBTA rescinds planned pay raises

BOSTON—The head of the cash-strapped MBTA has rescinded a 9 percent raise given to executives and nonunion workers hours after state Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen pressed him to reverse the pay hike.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority General Manager Daniel Grabauskas previously said the raises matched a salary increase given union employees.

Cohen on Tuesday sent a letter asking Grabauskas to limit the raises to a one-time 3 percent pay hike to nonunion workers earning $70,000 or less.

Grabauskas said he and the MBTA's general counsel, William Mitchell, also are turning down cost-of-living raises they were to have received this year.

Grabauskas said increased health care co-pays and deductibles for the workers will remain effect.

Grabauskas has previously warned that a financial crisis at the transit agency could force a significant fare hike by 2010. He issued the warning as he asked the state for more help in dealing with the T's $8.2 billion debt.