Linda Howard and the Women of Steel boarded buses in downtown Sharon to go on a shopping trip of a different sort.

Ms. Howard, who is president of the local chapter of the group, organized a Buy American bus tour throughout Mercer County on Saturday. The tour began in downtown Sharon, and the union members visited stores in Hermitage, Greenville and Niles, Ohio, to make people think about where they are sending their money.

"Most of the stock, 90 percent of the products sold in department stores like J.C. Penney's and Wal-Mart, come from overseas," she said. "Look at your T-shirt. It probably was made in Honduras."

At each store the group visited, the union members handed out informational fliers to shoppers and to store managers, urging them to buy American products. Store managers were urged to stock their shelves with more American products.

The goal of the tour was to promote awareness of American products, thereby helping to keep jobs in the country, Ms. Howard said.

"I'm doing this because I want my daughter to have a job when she gets out of school," Ms. Howard said.

Douglas H. Robbins, president of Teamsters Local 261 of New Castle, brought the Teamsters' bus to help with the tour.

"We're here to show our support to our sisters," he said.

Buying American-made products is especially important in light of recent events, he said, noting the several hundred jobs lost in the Mercer County area.

In the last month, 760 jobs left the area for good. Wheatland Tube Co. announced it would close its mechanical tube plant in Wheatland; Werner Co. said it would fold its ladder operation in Sugar Grove Township; and Oxford Automotive in Masury also announced it would be ending its operations.

Those jobs are lost, Ms. Howard said, because companies are relocating operations overseas, where production costs are much cheaper.

"Companies send the jobs overseas, where they don't have fair labor laws or don't have to pay as much," she said.

Glenda Brannon, of the United Steelworkers union, was also on the bus tour to encourage people to buy American.

"The store managers of some of the stores we visited weren't too happy," she said. "But we got a good response from most of the people we talked to (who) were glad we brought the issue to their attention."

A lot of people said they tried to buy American-made products, Ms. Brannon said.

Walking through Wal Mart and the Home Depot, she said, drove home her point.

"I picked up about 20 items in each store," she said, "and maybe one or two of them were made in the U.S."

Ms. Brannon said she asked managers of stores to call more attention to the American-made products they do have in stock.

Brian Beader, business representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 712 and Democratic county commissioner candidate, also went on the bus tour to show the support of his union.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Amanda Smith-Teutsch at: ateutsch@sharonherald.com