AFSCME was founded in Madison, Wisconsin by Arnold Zander. The then current Wisconsin’s state personal administrator Zander formed the union amid politically based firings. This was done to eliminate civil service and return to patronage jobs.
Arnold Zander
Originally known as Wisconsin State Employees Association (WSEA), it began with 50 civil service employees, to protect their jobs. It happened so, that the newly elected democratic legislature, revealed its intentions to remove Republicans from civil services.
Furthermore, in its counter initiative, against this, WSEA was supported by the American Federation of Labour (AFL). Soon WSEA was granted an American Federation of Labour Charter as federal labour union 18213.