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The Oregon Consumer League has worked to protect the consumer
in the marketplace for thirty years. We work to educate consumers and to
advance fair and ethical business practices. Our organization was founded in
1966 when Senator Don S. Willner called together 30 representatives from
statewide organizations to form a new consumer group.
The OCL's first projects included protecting consumers' interest in
disclosure-of credit terms, interest ceilings, unlawful trade practices,
poultry and meat inspections, and the labeling of dairy products and frozen
foods.
With OCL momentum, Oregon adopted an Unlawful Trade Practices Act. The
Department of Justice established a Financial Fraud Division, transferring the
enforcement of consumer laws from counties to the State. The Oregon Consumer
League took the cause of consumer justice to the nation in 1967 when the OCL
became a co-founder of the Consumer Federation of America.
In 1984 The Oregon Consumer League took the plight of elderly consumers to the
United States Senate, testifying before the committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation. The issues the OCL presented at this time included new and
used car sales and repair, Medicare Supplement Insurance, private company and
government intimidation of people with complaints, mail order fraud, health
spas and clubs, hearing aids, oral contracts, home repair fraud,
second-mortgage scams, mobile-home-park profiteering, labeling of warranties,
refund policies, food and drug labeling, and credit card surcharges.
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