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While pundits and economists worry about Wall Street’s well-being, Americans worry about losing their jobs, paying their bills and the health of the planet. The capitalist marketplace promotes the exploitation of people and natural resources as cheap fixes. But you don’t have to abandon your values to save a buck. Welcome to the People’s Marketplace.

Do you get some of your holiday spirit from a bottle? Whether you sip on a glass of wine to enhance the merriment, or spike the egg nog to take the edge off a long family day, drink union made. Lots of beverages are made by union shops, and many are as cheap as they come.

When it comes to beer, Anheuser-Busch products are made by members of the International Aerospace and Machinists Union, or IAM. This includes the American standard Budweiser and Bud light, as well as Rolling Rock, and, the non-alcoholic O’Douls. Check out the Campus Progress website, at www.campusprogress.org, where the writers have done extensive research on drinking Union.

Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, the $2 a pint staple of dive bars everywhere, is made by hardworking members of the United Auto Workers – revel in the irony the next time you call a cab after downing too many. You can find other United Autoworker made beverages and food products by going to their website at www.uaw.org.

Not surprisingly, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union is the muscle behind a full bar of beverages. If you like your whiskey or bourbon on the cheaper side, they make Wild Turkey or Jim Beam Black Label, White, or Rye, and you can chase it all down with Barq’s Root Beer. Or get a little fancy with Knob Creek bourbon. You can also get your UFCW made jollies on with Captain Morgan Rum or El Jimador Tequila. Find the many other UFCW products at www.ufcw.org.

When it comes to wine, finding union made is difficult, but not because a glass of red doesn’t go with a blue collar. The wine industry relies on grape pickers, who are largely seasonal migrant workers, and hard to organize. The United Farm Workers have had a rocky relationship with the Charles Krug Mondavi winery and the behemoth Ernest and Gallo empire. In 2008 the UFW successfully negotiated a four-year contract with Charles Krug Mondavi, which had long fought unionization. Their relationship with Ernest and Gallo is on-again, off-again.

But the next time you’re pacing the beer aisle, if you want to be sure and do good, abstaine from anything made by Coors. Sobering investigative articles by both Campus Progress and Alternert.org reporters reveal that Coors is a right-wing family. The Coors family has a long and continuing tradition of funding right wing foundations, think-tanks, and causes. Joseph Coors was even a member of Ronald Regan’s kitchen cabinet, which could even be one of his more center right positions.

So, when you top-off your holiday with a beverage, make sure its union made.