  Results of a combined analysis are presented for the production of $\omega$
and $\phi$ mesons in $\pi N$ reactions in the near-threshold region using
throughoutly a conventional ''non-strange'' dynamics based on such processes
which are allowed by the non-ideal $\omega-\phi$ mixing. We show that strong
interferences of the $t$ (meson exchange) and $s$ and $u$ (nucleon and nucleon
resonance) channels differ significantly in $\omega$ and $\phi$ production
amplitudes. This leads to a decrease of the relative yields in comparison with
expectations based on one-channel models with standard $\omega - \phi$ mixing.
We find a strong and non-trivial difference between observables in $\omega$ and
$\phi$ production reactions caused by the different role of the nucleon and
nucleon resonance amplitudes. A series of predictions for the experimental
study of this effect is presented.
