Because neither party had initiated negotiations for a new contract until recently, this one has remained in place however, parties may dispute that some of the contract still applies. O-D staff are working on a contract that began in July 2014 and that expired in 2017.

Schneider told Monitor in an email, “most other shops started bargaining in late December but Gannett very characteristically delayed meeting with Rochester and Utica.” To date, Gannett has declined to negotiate with the GRU as one unit. GRU guilds have invited representatives from each of the other publications to their collective bargaining sessions in an effort to ensure papers are treated equally and receive the similar goals in their contracts. The GRU is a solidarity effort from guilds representing Gannett-owned newsrooms in the region, including RDC, several papers in New Jersey, three in the Hudson Valley, and the Gannett Atlantic Digital Optimization Team, who work to optimize digital content performance for Gannett papers in NY, NJ, PA, MA and DE. UNG President and O-D reporter Rose Schneider told Monitor in an interview, “There has to be a way that there's other money there, rather than closing papers that have been around for close to hundreds of years and cutting people's livelihoods.”Īfter initially requesting to begin negotiations in August 2021, the UNG decided in November 2021 to delay negotiations so that they could occur concurrent with the rest of the Gannett Regional Union negotiations began in late January 2022.

The Utica News Guild (UNG), officially the Newspaper Guild of Utica - Local 129 of NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America, is hoping to achieve stronger provisions in this contract including pay minimums with regular raises, increased staffing, and stronger diversity hiring efforts, among other proposals. O-D staff participated in a “lunch out” and launched a petition with colleagues at other local papers across the country on August 11th to protest promised layoffs by their parent company, Gannett. For unlimited access to her stories, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.UTICA, NY - This Labor Day, the staff union at the local Utica Observer-Dispatch (O-D) is ratioing their employer on Twitter and fighting for a new collective bargaining contract to replace their nearly decade-old contract, which expired in 2017, and does not guarantee annual raises or permit dues to be paid directly from wages, among other provisions that have become standard in union contracts. Rose Schneider is the public safety reporter for the Observer-Dispatch. 'We're working towards the same goals,' Hairston said. Hairston said she was interested in working alongside an officer in a similar manner to her prior work at state prisons with corrections officers. Vomer, who has a bachelor's degree in psychology, became interested in serving in the program after assisting in research on other police departments' crisis intervention teams. When out in the field, Hairston wears a bulletproof vest marking her as a civilian. 'So far, there's no such thing as a typical day for us,' Hairston said.īut they have responded to high-intensity situations, as well. Utica police Officer Marissa Vomer and licensed social worker Torie Hairston do not just respond to active calls a good portion of their work is reviewing previous calls and following up with individuals to inform them of available services. Williams said he is hopeful funding will be made available to continue the program past the year, and eventually be expanded upon.

The program was sponsored by the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties and M&T Bank Partners Trust Bank Charitable Fund. 'They're going to be doing the field work that's kind of lacking in the mental health community,' Utica police Chief Mark Williams said. The year-long pilot program, which officially began April 26, tasks a Utica police officer and an MCAT social worker with responding to mental health calls. 'It's always been more reactive than proactive,' he said of law enforcement's response to such calls.Ĭombined effort: Crisis Intervention Team will work to get people services they need to 'thrive in society' Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri noted the park has been the site of several past mental health calls. Officials made the announcement Thursday morning at Martin Luther King Jr. A pilot partnership between the Utica Police Department and the Neighborhood Center's Mobile Crisis Assessment Team to respond to mental health calls has officially launched.

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