I-Team

BOSTON (WBZ) ― In these tough economic times, imagine if your boss was willing to pay for your dry cleaning. Not possible? It is if you work for Massport. That's the authority that runs Logan Airport and the Tobin Bridge. It's a perk that costs more than a hundred thousand dollars a year.

Dry cleaning is expensive. That's why many of us are cutting back in this tight economy. Peter Kazanis is the manager of Brighton Laundry and Dry Cleaners, "People bring half the amount that they used to bring."

But many Massport workers get their uniforms dry cleaned or laundered. It's all part of their union contracts. "I guess the old saying, you can die and go to heaven or you can die and go to Massport and it's better to go to Massport," says Brad Jones, Minority Leader of the Massachusetts House.

WHO'S GETTING THESE FREEBEES?

Let's start at Logan Airport. There's the Massport state police…$50,000 in dry cleaning for 146 troopers.

Then there's the airport's fire rescue crews and mechanics. That costs $12,000 a year.

The tab is about the same for cleaning public service workers such as the people who help travelers at the information booth. What do Logan travelers think? One man told us, "Nobody pays for my dry cleaning. Nobody's bailing me out these days."

And there's more. Massport also runs the Conley Terminal where ships unload the cargo.

Mechanics and electricians there get uniform cleaning to the tune of $22,000 a year. The Port Police who guard the Boston Fish Pier get $8,000 in dry cleaning. And while the tolls on the Tobin Bridge keep going up, toll takers and bridge mechanics get a free pass on cleaning, costing about $5,000 a year.

And it's not just free cleaning for those toll takers. There's another bonus—one hour extra pay per week. What's it for? Time to change in and out of their uniforms.

"Quite frankly, it's a great perk, but I think it's a perk we can do without," says Jones.

He thinks these dry cleaning contracts are just one more reason to focus on cutbacks instead of increasing tolls and taxes. "If we are gong to take people's hard-earned money in the worst economy in anybody's memory, and these kinds of things still exist, we haven't done the things that we need to do in terms of reform."

WHAT DOES MASSPORT SAY?

Massport would not go on camera but gave WBZ this statement:

"Uniforms play an important role in customer service, employee safety and employee pride.

"Massport is in the customer service business and having professional looking employees with clean, easily identifiable uniforms, especially in an airport environment where travelers are often nervous an unsure of their surroundings. For many visitors, Massport personnel are the first people they see when visiting the state. The cost of cleaning uniforms is frequently covered by collective bargaining and borne by the employer in both law enforcement and the airline industry.

"For Massport, more than half the total cost of uniform cleaning is for law enforcement and emergency responders. What Massport is doing is not unusual.

"With regards to behind the scenes employees, Massport like many employers who have fleets of vehicles or buildings that need maintenance, pays for the cleaning of uniforms so employees do not bring clothing soiled with hazardous material into their homes.

"Finally, uniforms can enhance workplace morale."

'I'M SHOCKED TO HEAR IT.'

"I think people will be shocked to hear it, I'm shocked to hear it," says Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation James Aloisi. He knew nothing about the dry cleaning perk until the I-Team told him about it, "It's the kind of excess that people are sick and tired of."

Especially in light of the fact that Massport recently raised the cost of airport parking by a $1, only to have that state order them to rescind it. "Let's reign this in, let's be part of the solution instead of the problem," says Representative Jones.

Aloisi, who also sits on the Board of Massport plans to do just that, "I am going to carefully look at it, and I can assure you that the next time we negotiate with these folks, dry cleaning will be off the table."

In a budget of $377 million dollars, a hundred thousand dollars in cleaning may not seem like a lot., but critics say everyone, including Massport, needs to tighten their belts.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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