U.S. Census Swag Not Made In The USA

By aaroncynic in News on Apr 13, 2010 8:20PM

In order to reach out to low-reporting communities like Chicago, the U.S. Census Bureau gives out promotional items like t-shirts and hats at a cost of about $340 million. Unfortunately, that money isn’t spent on products made in the USA. According to the Sun Times, a dozen boxes that came to Alderman Ed Burke’s office contained apparel made in China, Bangladesh and Haiti.

Calling the outsourcing “preposterous,” Alderman Burke said “It's amazing the bureau would condone such a thing when there is a 13 percent unemployment rate in the United States and 50 percent in some neighborhoods.” Chicago AFL-CIO president Dennis Gannon jumped on the issue as well, saying “It's hard to believe the bureaucracy of the federal government would not be sensitive to the concerns of the average citizen.”

While we certainly agree that it would’ve been nice to see that money put into jobs for Americans given the current economic climate and unemployment rate, it’s not surprising. Back in 2003, Mother Jones reported that labor leaders said about 83 percent of our garments were made overseas, a number that has changed little in the past 7 years. The manufacturing industry, from hats to helicopter parts, only makes up 8 percent of the total labor force in the United States. This means finding a truly American made product isn’t always easy. Many American flags are made overseas, particularly when supplies run low. The GOP had some problems recently when they tried to make t-shirts mocking health care reform, opting to use apparel made in Honduras. While navigating the complex world of middle management when it comes to clothing distributors and screen printers may be difficult, we feel the folks on the purchasing end could’ve done a little more research.