Could workers at the Oregonian unionize? The newspaper busted its unions in a bitter and drawn-out strike from November 1959 to April 1965.

But now, a group of mailroom employees at the paper’s Kittridge Distribution Center in Portland are talking with Communications Workers of America Local 7901 about the possibility of joining the union. The interest comes after an across-the-board pay cut that management announced in March. No one was spared the pay cut, which was 5 or 10 percent for most workers. In addition, the company froze its pension as of May 15.

But one group of workers got hit worse — part-timers in the mail room, where preprinted ad sections are inserted into the paper. About 90 part-time employees there got pay cuts of 28 percent; workers who made $18.64 an hour at the beginning of the year now make $13.62 — and they’re really upset about it.

“When the boss basically says you don’t matter and tosses you under a bus, what can you do?” said one mailroom employee.

The Oregonian is part of the Newhouse Newspaper chain, a division of Advance Publications based in New York.

At one time, the paper had a reputation for generosity, paying above union scale in what may have been a maneuver to dampen any potential interest in unionizing. Pizza parties, pension benefits, paid vacation, fully paid health coverage, and copious overtime (which kicked in after 7.5 hours) made the mailroom a desirable place to work, mailroom workers say. Now, the pension is frozen, medical co-pays and employee contributions are creeping up, and the wages just got slashed so severely that it’ll be a whole new lifestyle for those who remain.

Management isn’t ignoring union talk among mailroom workers. Workers say two mass meetings in the mailroom, plus small group meetings, have been held to counter the union drive.

And union backers have to contend with the fact that some of their full-time co-workers may be less enthusiastic about the union drive. Full-timers got a 10 percent cut from wages of $29 an hour, but that still gives them a lot more to lose.

“Unions these days give concessions all the time,” argued a full-timer who showed up to a June 12 union strategy meeting to speak against unionizing. It was an odd argument to make: If unions bargain concessions, at least members get to vote on it; this group of workers had just had concessions imposed on them without a vote.

Another fear: If they unionize, the company may decide to fire them all and replace them with temps. Workers say representatives of Barrett Business Services, a temp agency, were seen visiting the department.

Despite the risk, several pro-union workers who spoke with the Labor Press said they don’t have much to lose at this point.

© Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc.