Citizen Action/Illinois

From KeyWiki

Citizen Action/Illinois is the state's largest public interest organization (formerly Illinois Public Action).

Citizen Action/Illinois has led campaigns for lower utility rates, fair taxes, affordable and quality health care, insurance and campaign finance reform, and stronger environmental and food safety protections. It works to hold our elected officials accountable on these issues every day in the State House and in the Congress.

Contents 1 Mission 2 Staff 3 Supporting communist led steelworkers 4 External links 5 References

Mission

The organization has the "belief that every human life has equal worth, that the purpose of our society is to allow all its members to live meaningful and fulfilling lives, and that there is a collective good beyond our individual interests. It seeks to promote and win public policies that reflect these values and embody social justice, but recognizes that winning justice requires political power. It exists to create that power by being a values-based, issue-oriented political center in Illinois."^[1]

Staff

• Lynda DeLaforgue, Co-Director
• William McNary, Co-Director
• Hannah Lehman, Administrative Director
• Claire Serdiuk, Political Director
• Jessica Palys, Federal Issues Organizer
• John Gaudette, Illinois Health Care Campaign Director
• James Meerdink, Organizer
• Emily Stuart, Organizer
• Delores Travis, Office Manager^[2]

Supporting communist led steelworkers

The Wisconsin Steel Save Our Jobs Committee was active for 17 years, from 1980 to 1997. How was leader, and Communist Party USA member Frank Lumpkin able to keep SOJ together for so many years?

There were favorable factors that helped. First, Chicago is a union town; the United Steelworkers gave SOJ a home. The Wisconsin Steel workers also had the support of progressive public officials. These included Congressman, and later Mayor, Harold Washington; State Representative, and later U.S. Senator, Carol Moseley Braun; Congressman Gus Savage; State Senator Richard Newhouse; and State Representative Miriam Balanoff, followed by Clem Balanoff Consumer organizations such as Illinois Public Action, and later, Citizen Action of Illinois gave important support. The leftist labor monthly, Labor Today, and its editors Fred Gaboury and Scott Marshall, gave SOJ national coverage.^[3]

External links

• Citizen Action/Illinois

References