First They’ll Print A Picture Of You Sleeping In Their Tabloid Paper, Then They’ll Google You And Interview Your Family And Friends

A gentle reminder never to get on the Post’s bad side:

Wayne Wiggins, 37, the subway-station agent caught snoozing on the clock Sunday, has a history of sleepworking — and even brags to friends and relatives about getting paid for nap time, sources said yesterday.

He earned almost $77,000 last year sitting, and sometimes snoring, in his booth but, given his disciplinary record — including at least one citation for sleeping — transit sources say the MTA may soon be singing him a lulla-bye-bye.

“I thought he learned his lesson,” Wiggins’ 15-year-old son, Kevon, told The Post. “But he does seem to work a lot. And he’s really tired when he comes home.”

When Wiggins returns to work Thursday, sources said there’s a good chance transit officials will be waiting for him.

“They’ll probably try to fire him,” one source said. “With everything going on, they will want to make an example of him. It’s too bad because he has two kids.”

Lexis-Nexian Murdochian Wonder Post Power — Activate! Form of — damning quotes from the union newspaper:

In the weeks leading up to last month’s transit strike, Wiggins was outspoken about the MTA’s plans to make station-booth clerks do more work such as cleaning around the turnstiles.

“Transit sent around this list of, like, nine things they wanted us to start doing — changing light bulbs, cleaning the booths, policing the area around the booths,” he told The Chief Leader newspaper in December.

The agency has removed agents from many booths, and made them customer-service agents in the stations, and plans to expand this program.

“Hey, if they want to give me $15 more an hour because they’ve given me the work of four people, maybe we can talk, but otherwise, why should I do more so they can cut more jobs from the union?” he said.

“If we’re doing our jobs well enough that the MTA’s got a billion in the bank, then it’s time to share that wealth and give where it’s due.”

He also had harsh words for his supervisors.

“I think NYC Transit’s the only company in America where you can be a great worker but get fired because you came to work late twice in one year.”

Transit officials said they are still investigating the case. Sleep violations are not common, one official said, and they are taken very seriously.

In spite of his record, Wiggins — who could not be reached for comment yesterday — frequently boasted of this job perk.

“He used to say how easy it was [to sleep on the job],” said Carlos Henry, a tenant in Wiggins’ Queens Village home. “He probably worked a double shift and I guess it caught up with him.”

(Are cell-phone pictures of sleeping token booth attendants a modern form of scalp hunting?)