Public Interest Research Groups

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Public Interest Research Groups (also known as PIRGs) are volunteer-driven, non-profit organizations across the North American continent, originally based mostly out of University campuses, but today also having robust citizen memberships. Inspiration for PIRGs started in the 1960s when public advocate Ralph Nader spoke on college campuses across the country about increasing student involvement in society. Since then, PIRGs across the U.S. have provided training, support, and opportunities for members and the public to be active citizens in their communities, while achieving concrete social change in the form of hundreds of laws and other policies won on behalf of the public interest. Their belief is that the way to create positive social change is to provide individuals with the information and tools they need to take responsibility for their lives and to participate effectively in their communities. Issues of environmental, consumer protection, political and social justice are the main targets of concern. PIRGs focus on public interest legislation, with some registered lobbying, but do not work directly on election campaigns. PIRGs have been known to run non-partisan voter drives like its most recent, The New Voters Project, in 2004, focusing on swing states like Oregon, Nevada and New Mexico.

PIRGs rely on two innovative institution-building mechanisms: door-to-door and street canvassing and most are funded through student government fees like other clubs and a few are funded through a waivable fee. PIRGs also have set up a variety of affiliated organizations, such as a mutual fund. Internally, experienced staff tend to determine the strategies and structuring of PIRG organizations, with oversight provided by a citizen and/or student board. The various PIRGs are independent state-based organizations, but have created some national organizations through which various subsets of the PIRGs collaborate.

1 State (and other) PIRGs
2 Fund for Public Interest Research
3 References
4 External links

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State (and other) PIRGs

The highest-profile and most successful PIRGs are OSPIRG (Oregon State Public Interest Research Group), MASSPIRG (Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group), CalPIRG (California Public Interest Research Group), and NYPIRG (New York Public Interest Research Group). Outside the United States, PIRGs can also be found in Canadian provinces, such as Ontario, Canada.

State PIRGs in the U.S. cooperate on federal issues through U.S. PIRG, an organization collectively operated by the state PIRGs to influence federal policy.

United States:

AkPIRG (Alaska)
Arizona PIRG
CalPIRG (California)
CoPIRG (Colorado)
ConnPIRG (Connecticut)
Florida PIRG
Georgia PIRG
Illinois PIRG
Indiana PIRG
Iowa PIRG
MaryPIRG (Maryland)
MASSPIRG (Massachusetts)
PIRGIM (PIRG in Michigan)
MoPIRG (Missouri)
MontPIRG (Montana)
MPIRG (Minnesota)
NCPIRG (North Carolina)
NHPIRG (New Hampshire)
NJPIRG (New Jersey)
NMPIRG (New Mexico)
NYPIRG (New York)
Ohio PIRG
OSPIRG (Oregon)
PennPIRG (Pennsylvania)
RIPIRG (Rhode Island)
TexPIRG (Texas)
VPIRG (Vermont)
WashPIRG (Washington state)
WISPIRG (Wisconsin)

Canada:

APIRG (Edmonton, AB)
LPIRG (Lethbridge, AB)
Prince George PIRG (B.C)
Simon Fraser PIRG (B.C.)
Vancouver Island PIRG
OPIRG (Ontario, Canada)
OPIRG Provincial (Ontario)
Nova Scotia PIRG
QPIRG at McGill (Quebec)
QPIRG at Concordia
QPIRG a l'UQAM
OPIRG at Windsor

In the past couple of years several state PIRGs have formed environment-specific counterparts, with the intent of allowing the organizations to focus their efforts more effectively. These have more easily identifiable names than the acronym "PIRG", but use the PIRG model of canvassing, outreach, and lobbying. These include:

Environment California
Environment Colorado
Environment Maine
Massachusetts Community Water Watch
Penn Environment

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Fund for Public Interest Research

Most (but not all) of the state PIRGs utilize an umbrella organization, the Fund for Public Interest Research (FFPIR or "The Fund"), to execute their door-to-door and street fundraising and membership drives. The largest state PIRG not involved in the Fund is NYPIRG, based in New York City. Other progressive/liberal organizations, most notably the Sierra Club and the Human Rights Campaign, have also been FFPIR clients. FFPIR hires paid canvass directors to lead canvass offices in selected locations around the country. The locations are negotiated between FFPIR and its clients. In turn, these directors hire canvassers to raise money for the Fund's clients; these canvassers are paid largely "on commission," or in proportion to the amount of money that they raise for the client organization. FFPIR balloons in size (both in terms of the number of field offices and the number of canvassers per field office) during the summer months. The growth is largely due to hiring large numbers of college students for summer canvassing jobs, though some probably depends on the fact that summer weather is more conducive to canvassing in most of the United States (especially in areas where the PIRGs are comparatively strong).

FFPIR's policies toward its staff have been criticized. The Fund's canvass directors work well more than 40 hours a week (the "typical day" advertised on its jobs site runs from 9:30 AM to a 10 PM dinner with staff), and are paid a starting salary of $23,750 per year, sometimes plus commission (as of winter 2005-2006).Template:Ref Two canvass directors terminated at the Fund's Los Angeles office allege that the office was closed because they were trying to unionize. The two directors at the office say they had advocated the union because they were having trouble getting reimbursement from the national office for supplies and they had not received the health care they had been promised.Template:Ref

Additionally, the Los Angeles door-to-door and telephone offices unionized on June 9th and September 22nd of 2005, respectively, with Teamsters' Local 848. Since that time, FFPIR directors have created stricter office policies, have retaliated against pro-union canvassers (including firing half of its telephone canvassers in November), have implemented a hiring freeze lasting since September, and continue to stall contract negotiations.Template:Ref

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