by Kevin P. Manion (Author), Consumer Reports (Editor)

Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, has been an influential and defining force in American society since 1936. The organization's mission has remained essentially unchanged: to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers. The Consumers Union National Testing and Research Center in Yonkers, New York, is the largest nonprofit educational and consumer product testing center in the world. In addition to its testing facility in Yonkers and a state-of-the-art auto test center in Connecticut, the organization maintains advocacy offices in San Francisco, Austin, and Washington, D.C., where staff members work on national campaigns to inform and protect consumers. In addition to its flagship publication, Consumer Reports, Consumers Union also maintains several Web sites, including www.ConsumerReports.org and www.ConsumersUnion.org, and publishes two newsletters--Consumer Reports on Health and Consumer Reports Money Adviser--as well as many special publications.