While I’ve only owned two different cars in my life, my parents 1994 Plymouth Sundance and my current 1998 Ford Ranger, I do not see myself buying a foreign made car or truck in the foreseeable future. Six years ago when I bought the Ranger I had considered foreign cars, but now I’ve learned why I will not buy an foriegn car.

Simply said, a car or truck is a big purchase. While quality of the vehicle is always important, so is the quality it represents to the community as a whole. Most American manufacturers are union-based, from the Assembly plant to the part manufacturers. Most American cars consist of parts and labor constructed in the United States, such as the typical Chevrolet Silverado or Ford F-150 pickup trucks, which average betwen 75-85% American-made.

When you buy an American-made and Union-made car (even a used one), you are buying a vehicle:

• Made in a place where workers enjoy a clear voice on important work place issues.
• Unions advocate for fair pay and benefits for workers, good healthcare, good public services for working people.
• Union work places are safe work places, workers advocate for a good working environment.
• American-made cars are overwhelminly made in America, where there are some of the best standards in the world for clean air and clean water.
• Your investing in your neighbors — there is often a lot more automotive manufacturing locally then you realize
• That American-car you buy, more likely then not has parts made in Cortland, Ithaca, North Syracuse, Tonawanda, Massena, and Buffalo.

While many foreign-brand cars are made in the United States, most are made in the South, in plants that pay less and offer less benefits to their workers. Foreign car assembly plants and part suppliers are typically non-unionized. Without unions, nobody is advocating for good working conditions or protections for those who live in the communities where cars are made.

Nowadays, American-made cars are often as good if not better then Foreign-made cars. People do not realize that. Voting for foriegn cars by buying them new or used, means your taking jobs from your community, shipping them down to sweatshops down south or across the globe. These are your neighbors, the folks who hunt, fish, camp, farm, and help conserve the wild spaces. These are the same people who are involved in your community.

As far as I can see, there is only one clear choice — Buy American, Buy Union!