Sound Community Services workers to vote on contract agreement
May 24—NEW LONDON — Unionized workers with Sound Community Services, a nonprofit serving people with behavioral health and substance abuse disorders, are set to vote Friday on an agreement that includes 20% wage increases for some direct support staff, wage differentials based on seniority, and an increased employer contribution to health care.
Workers with SEIU District 1199 New England held a three-day strike from April 24 to 27 and then sent notice for an indefinite strike beginning May 18.
Kindra Fontes-May, organizer with District 1199, said the company and the union reached a tentative agreement May 11 and called off the strike. She and Sound Community Services CEO Gino DeMaio shared details of the agreement on Monday.
The residential recovery specialists and case managers will receive an increase of $1.78 per hour, retroactive to July 1, with funds from an increase in the current state budget. That will bring pay for residential recovery specialists up to $17.15 and some case managers up to almost $20.
The $1.78 increase is what Sound was offering since before the three-day strike, but the agreement also includes increases that go into effect this upcoming July 1, due to Gov. Ned Lamont earlier this month signing a budget that includes an 8% increase for the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
At that point, direct care workers will get another increase of $1.37 per hour. That means a total increase of $3.15, which is an increase of 20.5% for residential recovery specialists. Clinicians, whose current rate ranges from $24.89 to $34.78 an hour, will receive a 1% increase for each fiscal year.
Even if Sound doesn't get the state money until August or so, it will be retroactive to July 1. DeMaio said Sound will have a much higher starting rate than other agencies, which will help with attracting people. Sound is hiring now.
Workers are also getting additional compensation if they're mandated to continue working beyond the end of their shift, Fontes-May said. Employees used to make the same rate regardless of how long they've been with the company, but the agreement now includes a 1% increase after five years and after 10 years.
The agreement includes a $9,000 employer contribution to health insurance, up from a previous offer of $7,000, which was an increase from a previous offer of $6,676.56. Fontes-May and DeMaio both said this is equivalent to free health insurance for employees.
Fontes-May added that the agreement also includes Juneteenth as a new holiday, the creation of a racial justice committee, and the promise of reports on workers being disciplined broken down by race and ethnicity, so workers can check to see if there are discrepancies.
She said this is a three-year contract with a wage and benefit reopener next April.
A mediator ended up getting involved in negotiations. DeMaio said the drawn-out negotiations could've been avoided with more communication. Fontes-May said she thinks the agreement was reached through management seeing "that the workers were serious about getting ahead and about improving their lives. They've been specific from the beginning."
