With a strike at Canada Post looming, Greater Sudbury Utilities is taking steps to make sure customers still have ways to pay their bills.
GSU spokesperson Wendy Watson said while some of their 48,000 customers pay their bills online, about 80 per cent still get them in the mail.
"So for us as a utility, a strike is going to affect the way we do business,” Watson said. "People do still have to pay their bill on time, so we want to make sure they get their billing information on time."
Starting this week, GSU staff will be calling customers using the phone information from their accounts to let them know their options should the mail service stop.
"Normally we don't make phone calls to people about their bills,” she said. “Even to tell them about disconnection, we send them a paper notice."
But the possibility of a labour disruption is prompting them to make an exception. Calls will begin around 9:30 a.m., Watson said, and will end at 8:30 p.m. each weekday.
“We're going to be telling them the due date of their next bill and we're going to be urging them to visit our website (www.gsuinc.ca) and sign up for My Account," she said. "That provides them with a digital copy of their bill, as well as consumption details, hourly and daily meter consumption charts, all that kind of stuff.
"Once you're signed up, you can access your account information anytime day or night."
Customers can pay their bills online, at municipal citizen service locations, at the GSU during business hours or anytime in the drop box at its Regent Street office. A full list of options is available at the GSU website.
Any customers who need help can give them a call at 705-675-7536.
At Hydro One, spokesperson Tiziana Baccega Rosa said customers have been informed about their options through inserts into their bills, as well as through their website (www.hydroone.com) and on their Twitter account.
"We're trying to communicate through every available channel to let customers know what their options are," Baccega Rosa said. "Our customers can sign up to get an e-bill. Customers can also view their bills online, sign up for pre-authorized payment.
"But we know not all people are comfortable on a computer. So you can actually go through the phone system and get their balance and report a payment if they make it at a bank or their banking service."
Like the GSU, Baccega Rosa said the “large majority” of their customers still get a paper bill in the mail.
A strike at Canada Post seems more likely this week, after the union representing postal workers rejected the corporation's most recent offer.
“The Global Offer of Canada Post contains many serious rollbacks and inadequate proposals,” the Canadian Union of Postal Workers said in a statement on its website. “It fails to address many of our demands.”
The earliest the Canada Post strike could begin is Saturday, July 2. The corporation has already advised the public that any mail sent that is caught during the strike will be secured and held until the work stoppage ends.
