Board OKs SEIU-backed audit of firm

By Adam Tobias | Wisconsin Reporter

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Service Employees International Union Healthcare Wisconsin must be happier than a pig in mud.

The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors on Thursday, by a vote of 15-2, approved a resolution authorizing an audit of the county-contracted Supportive Homecare Options Inc.

Sally Sprenger, the company’s owner, has declined repeated requests from SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin to force her entire staff to join the union.

Sprenger also has been highly critical of the county’s “living wage” law, which includes a provision exempting county-contracted firms from paying the increased rate if they agree to full unionization.

County Supervisor David Bowen, who wrote the living wage legislation with SEIU-affiliated officials, called for the audit in August after being asked by SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin President Dian Palmer and other SEIU representatives.

Since then, Bowen, who also has received numerous campaign contributions and political endorsements from the labor organization, has added to the audit resolution the two other companies contracted with the Milwaukee County Department of Family Care.

That addition, which helps hide Bowen’s political motivation and triples the need for taxpayer resources, also was approved by board members.

Although she is opposed to the way the audit was requested, Sprenger told Wisconsin Reporter she is not worried about the results because she has “nothing to hide.”