New London — Unionized behavioral health and addiction workers at Sound Community Services may have ended their three-day strike as of 6 a.m. Wednesday, but they're not finished fighting: They issued another strike notice, effective May 18 at 6 a.m.

This time, the notice is not for a three-day strike but an indefinite one.

Kindra Fontes-May, organizer with SEIU District 1199 New England, said the notice went out right before negotiations resumed Wednesday evening, when management sent its proposal. She said the latest offer included some movement on health insurance but none on wages. The bargaining unit represents 73 workers at Sound.

Sound CEO Gino DeMaio said management offered an $8,000 employer contribution toward health insurance, up from the previous offer of $7,000 but not the $9,000 union workers are seeking. Sound is still offering hourly wage increases of $1.78. With residential employees making $15.37 an hour and case managers in the $17 range, the union is looking for a pathway to $20 an hour.

Union members have met virtually with some people from Sound's leadership team and an attorney representing Sound. DeMaio said, "I don't even go down to listen to the rhetoric that goes back and forth," but rather, people report back to him and caucus in his office. He said at this point, they're probably going to look to engage a federal mediator, because "I feel like we're pretty close to being at an impasse."

So, did the three-day strike have an impact?

Fontes-May said she thinks "that management understands the workers' power," whereas DeMaio said it was disruptive for clients and "solidified how committed my leadership team is to making sure that nobody goes without being served." DeMaio said his team did a debrief Friday and will be planning next steps Monday for future strike coverage, if it comes to that.

Both DeMaio and District 1199 are pushing for more money from the state.

"Workers are really ready for Connecticut to take them seriously. Mental health has been ignored for decades," Fontes-May said. "Their services that they provide have never been more needed than during the pandemic."

Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative leaders announced a budget deal this past Wednesday, which they expect to approve before the legislative session adjourns this upcoming Wednesday.

The budget includes $52 million in state funds and $20 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for agencies that support people with behavioral issues and addiction.

But Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, who chairs the legislature's Appropriations Committee, said getting funds out has been a problem. She said that after the current budget passed last June, some residential homes didn't get word on what they were receiving until January or February.

'You cannot let your best players walk away'

Sound workers were out picketing on Montauk Avenue on Tuesday morning, before heading to a rally in Hartford.

Darling Gonzalez, a community case manager, said the eight hours a day he works is never enough, having "30 clients, each one with a different need, each one with a different diagnosis, each one that needs more attention than the other." He's dealt with a client hitting him. And as the only bilingual person in his department, he's also in demand for communications with Spanish-speaking clients or people seeking services.

"There's already a stigma in the Latinx community with mental health, that they're embarrassed or they don't want to get the help they need," he said.

Gonzalez said a lot of clients overall don't have support from family or friends; the workers at Sound are all they have.

Donavon Powell, a greeter who welcomes people into the building, said, "there's a lot of frustration expressed, because this population is used to people abandoning them and leaving them." But workers leave due to high caseloads and burnout.

"We're a team," Gonzalez said. "We're a sports team. You cannot let your best players walk away for free, no matter what, knowing what they bring to the table."

Gonzalez has a bachelor's degree in human services and plans to start a master's degree program in the fall semester, to become a clinician.

Natalie Crino said she has a master's in kinesiology, or the study of how the human body moves, but is making $17.13 working as a case manager. She's been working in the health care field for more than 10 years, and said she wants to make sure her clients are happy, healthy and safe.

"I'm tired," she said Tuesday. "I got clients to take care of but I also gotta take care of myself."

e.moser@theday.com