Montreal public transit executive defends 10 per cent raises

Montreals public transit corporation is defending its decision to give 10 per cent raises to sometop executivesin 2012.

Alan Brire, executive director of human resources with the Socit de transport de Montral, told CBCs Daybreak that managers received an average raise of 5.6 per cent.

However,he confirmed that a few executives didsee their salaries jump by more than 10 per cent.

• Graphic: Year of delays for Montreal's aging metro fleet

The Montreal Gazette revealed Thursday morning that seven managers received more than 10 per cent increases after it obtained the data through an access-to-information filing.

The newspaper reported that salaries of the STM's 40 highest-paid employees could range between $120,000 and $300,000.

"2012 was a big year for the STM We won 16 prizes We renewed all labour agreements with unionized employees, almost all," said Brire.

Karl Moore, a professor at McGill's DesautelsFaculty of Management, said the raises may seem high, but they're at par with other provinces.

"Tens of thousands of people in Ontario government make over $100,000 a year. So when I look at that kind of information in Ontario, I think these are probably reasonable numbers," he said.

"Given, it's hard to judge from outside how well they've done -- we believe that the board of directors and CEO would have a much better sense than we would that they've done well. I'd probably be generally supportive of this," Moore continued.

• Montreal metro is one of world's most reliable, says STM

The Montreal metroexperienced more than 1,000 unplanned stopagges in 2012.At least half of those were caused by passengers.

He said raises reflecthow well managers perform.

"We don't give salary raises for nothing," he said.

While 2011 and 2012 were good years for the STM, Brire admitted that 2013 has not been as successful.

"This winter was tough," he said.

Montrealers were hit by multiplecity-wide metro shutdownsthis spring. Several of the interruptions were blamed on computer problems.

Brire said this year's problems could mean managers will receive smaller salaryincreases, or possibly none at all.