Buying American-made products is a good way to support jobs. If you're looking for American-made shoes, New Balance is one of your major options. And the shoe company is
pushing the U.S. military on that:
Massachusetts-based shoe company New Balance says that the military is dragging its feet on a promise it made to outfit soldiers with American-made shoes. The promise came in April of 2014 when the military announced it would honor the Berry Amendment, a 1941 law requiring the Department of Defense (DoD) to give priority to American goods. The Department of Defense had previously argued that sneakers were not part of the official uniform and therefore not subject to the Berry amendment.
More than a year later it seems little progress has been made. New Balance claims retaliation while the military claims the transition is moving at an acceptable speed. Other apparel companies who have done business with the DoD have come to the military’s defense using the backhanded compliment that they really do move that slow.
(That second paragraph seems like it belongs in a "this week in weak defenses" round up.) Sneakers by New Balance are undergoing an extensive testing process now; Saucony says it's working on a sneaker that might ultimately be used by the military.
Continue reading below the fold for more of the week's labor and education news.
A fair day's wage
Education
- More than one in four 11th graders in Washington state officially opted out of the "Smarter Balanced Assessment," their Common Core test, and many more didn't take it but didn't officially opt out.