For most of us, summer is about hard-earned vacations, seeing loved ones, the Fourth of July, fireworks, baseball ... all things American. This summer, as the American flag flies over all we do, and we remember what we stand for as American citizens, we should remember to Be American, Be Union, and Buy Union Made in the USA products.

Many believe it's just too difficult to shop with conscience in today's marketplace. Everywhere you turn products are "Made in China" or better yet "Assembled in the USA with Taiwan Components." And almost no products are marked "Union Made in the USA." With today's hustle and bustle world who can spend hours in the store looking for products that weren't made in sweatshops in another country?

Luckily, the Internet has made shopping with conscience a little bit easier. Sites like www.unionlabel.org provide a searchable database of union made products. UNITE's web site at www.unite.com directs you to Union Made in the USA clothing and HERE's web site at www.hereunion.org/hotelguide provides a list of union hotels to stay in during your summer travels. For Buy American web sites that list American made products, check out www.libertynet.org/buyam and www.snapusa.com.

It is time for PACE to update the brand-name products produced by our members, but we need your help. On page four of this issue, we are asking you to contact us with your local union number and the brand name goods your local produces. We will run a list of products and locals in our October issue, just in time for holiday gift giving. Our locals should also begin to bargain the PACE logo onto products or packaging produced by our members. The International can provide camera-ready logos and slogans to your employers and their customers. We can then support and preserve not only Union jobs, but PACE jobs.

Even if you don't have the time to do a little research and buy with conscience, you can shop with conscience. You can choose to stop shopping at places that don't demonstrate American and union values. One corporate scoundrel that doesn't deserve an American red cent From union members is Wal-Mart. For more than a decade Wal-Mart has been using patriotism to deceive the American people through its so-called "Buy-American" program.

The program has utilized a variety of slogans "Bring it Home to the USA," "Bring it Back to the USA," "We Buy American Whenever We Can. So You Can Too. Together We Can Do It," "Support American Made," and "Made Right Here." It uses a red, white and blue color scheme in its stores, U.S. flags and other patriotic symbols to convince American consumers that Wal-Mart sells primarily U.S. made products.

A recent examination of nearly 90,000 apparel items in 14 Wal-Mart stores across 12 states, however, found that only 20% of the goods were Made in the USA, with 80% coming from Third World countries, including Mexico, China and Indonesia. Another study revealed that for Wal-Mart's own "Faded Glory" brand products, which employ a patriotic theme, only five percent were found to be U.S. produced. While the "Faded Glory" name may evoke images of America, the reality is starkly different. The issue is not so much the fact that Wal-Mart imports products. Most, even union retailers, sell imported goods. The others, however, do not degrade the American flag by using it falsely as a marketing tool. More information on the "Buy American" sham can be found at www.ufcw.org/wmreport.html.

Wal-Mart also has one of the worst anti-Union records in the country, employing ruthless tactics to keep Unions out of its stores. Despite numerous organizing attempts, only two Wal-Marts are union and they are in Canada. A recent PACE organizing drive of the Wal-Mart store in Grand Rapids, Minn., resulted in a sophisticated union busting campaign. Work schedules were cut, job assignments were changed and employees were interrogated and pressured. Some employees quit because of the stress. National Labor Relations Board charges were heard in Minneapolis in May.

Wal-Mart also destroys the economies of the communities it takes root in, driving local stores out of business, and resulting in a net loss of about 1.5 jobs per every Wal-Mart employee. Wal-Mart's recent development of its Super Stores threatens existing union supermarket jobs. Most union supermarket chains pay living wages and provide employer-paid health benefits. A shift of those jobs to Wal-Mart would lower wages about $3-an-hour and cut health benefits for most workers. Six out often Wal-Mart workers are not covered under the company health benefit plan, and those that are pay about $1,200 a year on an average salary of $7.50 per hour. Wal-Mart reaps over $3 billion annually in profits. Moreover, recent comparisons between union supermarkets in Wisconsin and Wal-Mart in the same area revealed that the union stores beat Wal-Mart's prices. Contact a UFCW local in your area, or check out www.ufcw.org/where.html for union retail and supermarket stores in your vicinity.

Remember, cheap labor is a form of slavery. Every time we purchase a product made with cheap labor, we jeopardize our jobs. Every dollar we spend is a vote for or against cheap labor. Don't shop at Wal-Mart and don't let your friends or families shop there. Be Union, Buy Union, Shop Union. The job you save may be your own.