Labor interest group
Project Vote Smart reports on performance evaluations from all special interest groups SIGs who provide them, regardless of issue or bias. If you know of a group that provides ratings not included here, please contact us at ratings votesmart. Descriptions of organizations are derived from the mission statement or description produced by each organization. Project Vote Smart does not evaluate or edit these descriptions. This is a card processor fee.

Types of Interest Groups



Unions Are Not a Special Interest Group
An interest group is an organization of people who share a common interest and work together to protect and promote that interest by influencing the government. Interest groups vary greatly in size, aims, and tactics. Political scientists generally divide interest groups into two categories: economic and noneconomic. Economic groups, which seek some sort of economic advantage for their members, are the most common type of interest group. Money has significant influence in capitalist societies, so economic interest groups are numerous and powerful.


Unions Are Not a Special Interest Group
While certain unions may be an obstacle to the greater good on discrete issues, they are collectively a uniquely effective vehicle for realizing that good on the issues that matter most to working people. Meanwhile, by reducing flexibility in the labor market, unions sapped efficiency, and, thus, economic growth. Which is to say: They were institutions that redistributed wealth among workers — generally, in a regressive fashion, as high-skill workers were overrepresented in unions — while shrinking the overall economic pie that all working people had to share.



Economic interest groups advocate for the economic benefit of their members, and business interests groups are a prominent type of economic interest group. Interest groups represent people or organizations with common concerns and interests. These groups work to gain or retain benefits for their members, through advocacy, public campaigns and even by lobbying governments to make changes in public policy.