BOSTON -- The very same day Gov. Deval Patrick announced thousands of state employees would lose their jobs to budget cuts, almost 90 Massachusetts Turnpike Authority workers got a raise.

"We have to act immediately to get state spending in line," Patrick said Oct. 15.

During the same announcement, the governor also said unions would have to revise contracts to share in the sacrifice. "If we cannot, we'll have no choice but to proceed with those layoffs," he said.

Despite his warning, Team 5 Investigates has learned almost 20 percent of Turnpike Authority supervisors got salary increases as part of a collective bargaining agreement.

Some of the pay hikes are as high as 8 or 9 percent. This happened right before the agency dissolved and at a time when most people aren't getting any raises.

"Is it inequitable? I don't know. I think it's in the eye of the beholder," said newly appointed Department of Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan. Mullan stood next to the governor during the budget cut announcement. His signature is on the agreement to give raises.

"Is it hypocritical?" Team 5 Investigates Sean Kelly asked Mullan.

"Well, I should first say these were modest increases in wages for people who have not received them in several years," Mullan said .

Mullan said the state handed out the raises to settle a complaint about unfair labor practices that most likely would have cost the state more money. That complaint came from managers at the Turnpike who were upset about being paid less than the workers they supervised.

"For the average person at home saying we're being told we have to sacrifice in our own jobs or we have to pay more in taxes in order to provide services, it undercuts the argument and further shreds the governor's credibility," said House Minority Leader Bradley Jones, who also said the state shouldn't have been so quick to settle.

Patrick said he's standing by Mullan's decision.

"How does the state justify giving these people as high as 9 percent raises, when other people are going to lose their jobs?" Kelly asked Patrick.

"Well, it's not about what the state justifies, it's what the law requires," Patrick said.

The law does not require these raises to be handed out. It only requires the state to address the unfair labor complaint.

According to a Department of Transportation spokesman, the average pay increase for the workers included in the agreement is 2.77 percent. But the average increase for incumbent supervisors whose positions were reclassified when the Turnpike Authority dissolved is 7.93 percent.

Mullan also told Team 5 Investigates that the people who got these wage increases could eventually lose them depending on how the state's new transportation agency is re-organized.

Team 5 Investigates made several requests seeking comment from the United Professional Steel Workers Union but no one returned the calls.