Wisconsin Citizen Action (WCA) was founded in 1978 as the Wisconsin affiliate of Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition (C/LEC), a national organization. C/LEC was founded as a coalition who aimed to change national energy policy. At the time of its founding, the state organization went by the name Wisconsin Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition. In 1982, Wisconsin Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition changed its name to Wisconsin Action Coalition (WAC) and broadened its scope beyond energy concerns. Wisconsin Action Coalition kept its affiliation with Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition. Between 1983 and 1985 C/LEC built and was absorbed into Citizen Action. Citizen Action was founded to address issues beyond energy concerns that were shared by the constituents of C/LEC – labor unions, citizen groups, and public interest organizations. Nationally, C/LEC continued to exist, but as a smaller and less prominent part of Citizen Action. At this time WAC changed its name to Wisconsin Citizen Action. The switch from WAC to WCA was gradual, and this is reflected in the records.
C/LEC was an organization that brought together liberal citizens and labor unions after the combined impact of the Vietnam War, Black Power, and the counterculture had driven them apart in the late 1960s. It was organized during the second energy crisis to lead the opposition against the energy industry and change energy policy. During the 1980s, Citizen Action (which by this time had absorbed C/LEC) had a national membership of over 2,000,000 and was described as the largest, most effective grass-roots force on the left in American politics. In Wisconsin, they had nearly 200 organizational affiliates, in addition to individual members consisting of community, labor, and senior groups.
Wisconsin Citizen Action was a wide-spread and powerful grassroots organization. Its strength came from its constituency, which united senior citizens, labor unions, and politically left leaning people of all backgrounds. The organization grew quickly from its founding in 1978. WCA was headquartered in Milwaukee with field offices located in Madison, Eau Claire, Oshkosh, and Green Bay. It had a bout of financial problems in 1983-1984 when the records document a series of lay-offs. WCA recovered quickly though and was at the peak of its influence in the mid-to-late 1980s.
Following the 1986 U.S. Senate race in which Robert Kasten beat the WCA-backed Edward Garvey, several people filed complaints with the Federal Elections Committee against WCA. The complaints came from one of Garvey's challengers in the Democratic primary, Robert Kasten, and a small number of citizens. The allegations claimed that WCA engaged in political activities that were illegal for a non-profit organization. Simultaneously, other Citizen Action organizations were fighting similar allegations nation-wide. While Wisconsin Citizen Action was cleared of most of the charges, the defense strained the organization's finances and morale. Despite this decay, research indicated that WCA continued to operate, eventually changing its name to Citizen Action of Wisconsin.
In the records, Wisconsin Citizen Action is referred to under different names during different periods. Those names are as follows: Wisconsin Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition, Wisconsin C/LEC, or WisC/LEC (1978-1983). Wisconsin Action Coalition, or WAC (1982-1993). Wisconsin Citizen Action, or WCA (1990-1993).
Timeline
| 1978 |
Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition formed
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| 1982 |
Wisconsin Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition broadens focus and becomes Wisconsin Action Coalition
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| 1984 |
Financial crisis, cutbacks and lay-offs at Wisconsin Action Coalition
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| 1985 |
Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition is now a part of the broadly-focused Citizen Action
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| 1986 |
Kasten vs. Garvey senatorial race
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| 1986 |
Complaints against Wisconsin Action Coalition to Federal Elections Committee begin
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| 1989 |
Records from Federal Elections Committee investigations conclude
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| 1990 |
Wisconsin Action Coalition becomes Wisconsin Citizen Action
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Reference
Battista, Andrew. “Labor and Liberalism: The Citizen Labor Energy Coalition,” Labor History [journal online] (August 1999), available from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0348/is_3_40/ai_55449351; accessed February 18, 2007, quoting David Moberg.
