MediaOne poised for 'mailroom' strike

MediaOne of Utah, the company that prints the Deseret Morning News and the Salt Lake Tribune, continues to prepare for a possible employee strike by its post-press production workers, said MediaOne president Brent Low.

In a news release Thursday, MediaOne said its managers were "told by the union that the union membership had taken a 'strike vote,' authorizing the union leadership to call a strike." Employees who attended a union meeting "also told the company there had been a vote taken to authorize a strike," the statement said.

Low said Wednesday night that he doesn't expect employees to strike soon. "But at some point, they could be preparing for such," he said. "Hence, we had to make preparations if they do that. We'll continue to do business as usual, in spite of the strike."

The employees union continues to deny a strike is on the horizon. Communication Workers of America Local 14759, which is representing the majority of the approximately 133 full- and part-time post-press production employees who bundle and stuff ads into newspapers — traditionally called "mailroom" employees — never held a strike vote, said Kent Anderson, president of CWA Local 7704, who is helping with contract negotiations.

The only vote by union members was on March 2 over a proposed three-year contract. About 35 employees attended, and 93 percent of them rejected the contract, Anderson said.

"If we would have had a strike vote, we would have to do the same process (as the contract vote) by secret ballot, and tally it," Anderson said.

Anderson said he could not verify what mailroom employees told management.

MediaOne took out classified ads this week in the News and Tribune seeking mailroom workers in order "to ensure a sufficient supply of mailroom employees if there was a strike. It is a common-sense action taken by any employer who is threatened with a strike," the MediaOne statement said.

The mailroom employees' two-year contract expired in December.

The proposed contract rejected by the union members would have changed the overtime pay from the current 36 1/4 hours a week to 38 1/2 hours the first year of the contract and then 40 hours after. Overall pay increase employees currently enjoy would be replaced by merit pay.

Seniority also would have changed if the contract had been approved. One job position would have been eliminated and two would have have been added, and employees in the eliminated position would get to work in a higher-paying position, according to the statement by MediaOne.

Both MediaOne and union leaders said they want to continue negotiating a new contract in good faith.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com