The National Consumers League (NCL) is one of the oldest consumer-focused advocacy groups in the United States. NCL supports left-of-center economic policies including enhanced business regulations, expanded government provisions of healthcare, and mandatory consumer education.

NCL receives funding from nonprofits, unions, and major corporations. In 2021, representatives of three labor unions resigned from their roles in NCL over an organizational partnership with Amazon.

History

The National Consumers League was chartered in 1899 by Progressive Era campaigners Jane Addams and Josephine Lowell and was first led by children’s rights activist Florence Kelley for 33 years. NCL’s early efforts focused on promoting business regulations, including the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906, and 10-hour workday laws. During the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, NCL advocated for national health insurance, unemployment insurance, and expanded Social Security. ¹

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt joined NCL in 1903, testified on its behalf in U.S. Congress, and later was its vice president. ^{2 3}

In the 1970s and 1980s, NCL vice president Esther Peterson frequently testified on behalf of NCL in U.S. Congress. Peterson had previously been an advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and was the head of the White House Office of Consumer Affairs under President Jimmy Carter. ⁴

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, NCL formed the Alliance Against Fraud in Telemarketing, the Child Labor Coalition, and the National Fraud Information Center (now known as Fraud.org). ⁵

In 2007, Sally Greenberg became executive director of NCL and has led the organization ever since. Under her leadership, NCL has four focus areas: fraud, child labor, LifeSmarts (a youth consumer education program), and health care reform. ⁶

Policy Goals

The National Consumers League supports business regulations designed to protect consumers from misleading or predatory business practices. For instance, in 2021, NCL pushed for the establishment of a law to limit private commercial uses of DNA data, to enhance privacy for peer-to-peer communication platforms, and to require the publication of “alcohol facts” on alcoholic beverage labels. ^{7 8}

NCL supports federal, state, and local funding for consumer education initiatives, including in schools from kindergarten to graduate school. ⁹

In April 2021, NCL wrote a letter to Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter urging him to investigate potential anti-competitive practices in the live-event ticketing marketplace, particularly the conduct of Live Nation Entertainment. ¹⁰ In March 2023, NCL, Fan Freedom, and Protect Ticket Rights published the Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights, which encouraged norms and laws including a right to ticket transferability, right to fee transparency, and a prohibition on ticket-buying bots. ¹¹

In February 2021, NCL endorsed H.R. 40, a federal bill to create a commission to study the possibility of paying reparations for slavery to African Americans. ¹²

Programs

Since 2019, the National Consumers League has run the Cannabis Consumer Watch in response to “the proliferation of unreviewed and untested CBD products” as cannabis has been legalized and decriminalized across the United States. ^{13 14}

Since 2011, NCL has run Script Your Future, a group that assists individuals in taking medications for chronic health problems. ¹⁵

Since 1994, NCL has run LifeSmarts, an education initiative for sixth through twelfth graders. ¹⁶ During the 2020 to 2021 program year, LifeSmarts hosted about 125,000 students. ¹⁷

Since 1992, NCL runs Fraud.org, a group that tracks internet and telemarketing scams. ¹⁸

Since 1989, NCL has run the Child Labor Coalition, a program that pushes for regulations on products made with child labor. The Coalition is co-chaired by the American Federation of Teachers. ¹⁹

Funding

In 2021, the National Consumers League generated $4.2 million in revenue. NCL’s nonprofit donors included the AARP, the International Labor Rights Forum, and UNICEF. ²⁰

NCL’s union donors included the AFL-CIO, the Solidarity Center, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the National Education Association, and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. ²¹

NCL’s corporate donors included Amazon, Airbnb, AT&T, American Airlines, American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup, Comcast, FICO, Google, Johnson and Johnson, Merck, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Pfizer, Procter and Gamble, JP Morgan Chase, StubHub, Toyota, Tyson Foods, United Airlines, Verizon, and Western Union. ²²

Leadership

Sally Greenberg has been the executive director of the National Consumers League since 2007. Greenberg previously worked at Consumers Union from 1997 to 2007 on product liability, food safety, and auto safety. Prior, Greenberg served at the U.S. Department of Justice Foreign Claims Settlement Commission and worked as the eastern states civil rights counsel for the Anti-Defamation League. She was also on the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts and the Women’s Bar Foundation. She is currently on the board of the Keystone Policy Center and the Reagan-Udall Foundation, a nonprofit established by U.S. Congress to support the mission of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Greenberg served on the boards of Trillium Asset Management, Alliance for Justice and HALT, a legal consumer justice group. ^{23 24}

NCL’s officers consist of former Missouri State Senator Joan Bray (D), former U.S. Federal Trade Commission chair Jon Liebowitz, Alliance for Retired Americans executive director Richard Fiesta, and Potomac Waves Media founding partner Sharon White-Paez. ²⁵

Controversy

In August 2021, leaders of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the Communications Workers of America (CWA), and the United Auto Workers (UAW) resigned from the board of the National Consumers League after accusing NCL of compromising its principles by accepting donations from Amazon. They argued, “Unfortunately, it has become obvious over the past several months that the NCL leadership now prioritizes funding from anti-labor businesses like Amazon over its traditional pro-labor and pro-consumer mission.” ^{26 27}

NCL refused to comment on the resignations. Previously, NCL had criticized Amazon policies that it perceived as anti-union, though NCL has also praised Amazon’s establishment of a $15 minimum wage and stated, “We have partnered with Amazon on issues of great importance to consumers, such as fighting fraud and supporting financial literacy for adolescents, and appreciate the company’s dedication to those concerns.” ^{28 29}

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11. Broerman, Michael. “”Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights” Prompts Concerns As Colorado Weighs Controversial Ticketing Bill.” Live For Live Music. March 1, 2023. Accessed August 21, 2023. https://liveforlivemusic.com/news/consumer-advocacy-groups-ticket-buyer-bill-of-rights/.
12. “National Consumer League statement in support of HR 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act.” National Consumers League. February 18, 2021. Accessed August 21, 2023. https://nclnet.org/hr40/.
13. “Our Programs.” National Consumers League. Accessed August 21, 2023. https://nclnet.org/about-ncl/our-programs/.
14. “About Us.” Cannabis Consumer Watch. Accessed August 21, 2023. https://www.cannabiswatch.org/about.
15. “Our Programs.” National Consumers League. Accessed August 21, 2023. https://nclnet.org/about-ncl/our-programs/.
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22. “2021 Annual Report.” National Consumers League. Accessed August 21, 2023. https://nclnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2021-annual-report.pdf.
23. “Sally Greenberg.” Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Accessed August 21, 2023. https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/people/sally-greenberg.
24. “Sally Greenberg, JD.” Harvard T.H. Chan. Accessed August 21, 2023. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/ecpe/faculty/sally-greenberg/.
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26. Salas, Lorelei. “Funding From Amazon Sunders a Working-Consumer Alliance.” Prospect. August 18, 2021. Accessed August 21, 2023. https://prospect.org/power/funding-from-amazon-sunders-worker-consumer-alliance/.
27. Yadav, Rohit. “National Consumer League Accused of Compromising Goal for Amazon’s Funding.” Tech Story. August 15, 2021. Accessed August 21, 2023. https://techstory.in/national-consumer-league-amazon-funding/.
28. Yadav, Rohit. “National Consumer League Accused of Compromising Goal for Amazon’s Funding.” Tech Story. August 15, 2021. Accessed August 21, 2023. https://techstory.in/national-consumer-league-amazon-funding/.
29. “National Consumers League applauds Amazon’s commitment to increasing minimum wage.” National Consumers League. October 3, 2018. Accessed August 21, 2023. https://nclnet.org/amazon_minwage/.