BY CRAIG GILBERT
There has never been a lot of money in meter reading in Sudbury, and now there is even less.
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Last Wednesday, five men who read meters for Greater Sudbury Utilities (GSU) submitted letters of resignation to their employer, Newmarket-based contractor URB Olameter Inc.
The workers, with decades of experience and nine children between them, were told last week they could take a 30 per cent pay cut or walk out the door.
The meter readers are paid for every meter read. They never know what their pay will be until they see their cheques.
Â?The operations manager said if he were to give us something in writing, heÂ?d get fired,Â? said Bob Brisebois, 33, a 14-year veteran.
The decision to leave wasnÂ?t one taking lightly by the former workers.
Â?My wife is behind me 100 per cent,Â? said Glen Trainor, 43, also a 14-year veteran. Â?ItÂ?s not easy to quit your job...with a family and a four-
month-old at home. But you canÂ?t keep waking up every morning discouraged.Â?
They arenÂ?t happy spending all their time looking for jobs either.
Â?We loved our jobs,Â?he said. Â?We got to be outside all the time, keeping fit with walking. But itÂ?s a hard job - picture yourself in -50C weather, holding two different instruments at the same time in your bare hands.Â?
Before the pay cut, the readers grossed between $40,000 and $50,000. That figure is before deductions, about $1,400 for benefits and the $10,000-$12,000 they spend on fuel and repairs on their vehicles.
But the team just canÂ?t keep sucking it up anymore.
Â?You start to look at your pay cheques and youÂ?re losing $400 every week?Â?
The pay cut shows Brisebois the company has no respect, and no concept of the nature of the job here in the north.
Â?I used to put gas in my vehicle everyday,Â? said Trainor. Â?I had to fix the bearings on my vehicle twice last year, thanks to our roads.Â?
The new contractor took over responsibility for reading water and hydro meters in Greater Sudbury in January 2003.
There wasnÂ?t a large margin between the bidders for the contract, according to Stan Pawlowicz, GSUÂ?s vice-president of corporate services.
URB Olameter had the best bid for reading both water and electrical meters.
According to Brisebois, URB Olameter made a mistake when calculating the pay rate for the workers here.
The company based its calculations on the time and cost of reading meters in Toronto.
There was no consideration for the sheer distance the readers have to travel in this city.
URB Olameter officials did not return phone calls from Northern Life before press deadline.
The company has taken out a classified advertisement looking for replacement meter readers.
