Type Nonprofit organization Website consumersunion.org Number of employees 652 | Revenue $248 million (2009) Founded 1936 Magazine Consumer Reports | |
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Location 101 Truman Avenue
Yonkers, New York 10703 Key people Marta Tellado, President Headquarters Yonkers, New York, United States CEO Marta L. Tellado (Sep 2014–) Founders Colston Warne, Arthur Kallet Similar Public Interest Research, National Consumers League, Public Citizen, AARP, Center for Auto Safety Profiles | ||
Consumers Union (CU) is a United States-based non-profit organization focusing on product testing, investigative journalism, and consumer advocacy in an attempt to help consumers to make informed decisions in the marketplace and to try and encourage market actors to place the needs of consumers first. Consumer Reports publishes a magazine and a website, both called Consumer Reports. As of January 2016, its CEO is Marta Tellado, who has served in the position since 2014.
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Founded in 1936, CU was created to serve as a source of information that consumers could use to help assess the safety and performance of products at the dawn of the era of mass media advertising. Since that time, CU has continued its testing and analysis of products and services, and attempted to advocate for the consumer in legislative and rule-making arenas. Among the reforms in which CU played a role were the advent of seat belt laws, the exposure of the dangers of cigarettes, and more recently, the enhancement of consumer finance protection and the increase of consumer access to quality health care.
The organization has expanded its reach to a suite of digital platforms.
The organization’s headquarters, including its 50 testing labs, are located in Yonkers, New York, while its automotive testing track is in East Haddam, Connecticut. CU is funded by subscriptions to its magazine and website, as well as through independent grants and donations.
History
Consumers Union's predecessor, Consumers' Research, was founded in 1926. In 1936, Consumers Union was founded by Arthur Kallet, Colston Warne, and others who felt that the established Consumers' Research organization was not aggressive enough. Kallet, an engineer and director of Consumers' Research, had a falling out with F.J. Schlink and started his own organization with Amherst College economics professor Colston Warne. In part due to actions of Consumers' Research, the House Un-American Activities Committee placed Consumers Union on a list of subversive organizations, only to remove it in 1954.
Prominent consumer advocate Ralph Nader was on the board of directors, but left in 1975 due to a "division of philosophy" with new Executive Director Rhoda Karpatkin. Nader wanted Consumers Union to focus on policy and product advocacy, while Karpatkin focused on product testing. Karpatkin was appointed Executive Director in 1974 and retired as President in the early 2000s.
Consumers Union has helped start several consumer groups and publications, in 1960 helping create global consumer group Consumers International and in 1974 providing financial assistance to Consumers' Checkbook which is considered akin to Consumer Reports for local services in the seven metropolitan areas they serve.
At the start of 2009, Consumers Union acquired The Consumerist blog from Gawker Media for approximately $600,000.
In 2012 the publishing organization began doing business as "Consumer Reports", which is also the name of the magazine published by the organization. The reason for the name change was that the name of "Consumer Reports" was more familiar to the public than the name "Consumers Union". The name "Consumers Union" became reserved for the subsection of the organization which participates in political advocacy. Consumers Union spent $200,000 on lobbying in 2015.
Advocacy and campaigns
Consumers Union has hundreds of thousands of e-advocates who take action and write letters to policymakers about the issues its advocates take on. CU has also launched several advocacy websites, including HearUsNow.org, which helps consumers with telecommunications policy matters. In March 2005, CU campaign PrescriptionforChange.org released "Drugs I Need", an animated short with a song from the Austin Lounge Lizards, that was featured by The New York Times, JibJab, BoingBoing, and hundreds of blogs. On Earth Day 2005, CU launched GreenerChoices.org, a web-based initiative meant to "inform, engage, and empower consumers about environmentally friendly products and practices."
Consumers Union, the advocacy and policy arm of Consumer Reports Magazine, is a sponsor of the Safe Patient Project, with the goal to aid consumers in finding the best quality of health care by promoting the public disclosure of hospital-acquired infection rates and medical errors. The US Centers for Disease Control states that about 2 million patients annually (about 1 in 20) will acquire an infection while being treated in a hospital for an unrelated health care problem, resulting in 99,000 deaths and as much as $45 billion in excess hospital costs.[1]
The campaign has worked in every state calling for legislation requiring hospitals to disclose infection rates to the public. A list of state infection reports can be found here. The Safe Patient Project also works on medical devices, prescription drugs, and physician accountability.
GreenerChoices.org offers an "accessible, reliable, and practical source of information on buying 'greener' products that have minimal environmental impact and meet personal needs." The site contains many articles about different products, rating them on how "green" they are. It also focuses on electronics and appliance recycling and reuse, as well as conservation and global warming prevention.
Funding for Consumers Union has recently been provided by USPIRG Education Fund, the Kentucky Equal Justice Center and the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network among other advocacy organizations.