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So you need a new TV. As a union member, you want to buy a unit thats union made, or at least American-made. Contrary to popular opinion, American-made televisions are out there. The difficulty is in getting past the brand name game.

IBEW International Representative Troy Johnson said it is simply no longer possible to determine where the unit was made by the brand name. Television manufacturers, mostly multinationalstake great care to keep manufacturing and branding information about their units "proprietary," or confidential. In fact, unless you have done an exhaustive amount of research, buying a television is like a shell game: they may all look the same but only when you look under the shell can you tell the difference.

Some of these companies have paid well to take advantage of your good intentions. Zenithat least in its former life as a top American TV produceris long gone. But its brand name has been purchased by a Japanese company, which produces the Zenith TVs in China. And some Sony and Panasonic TVs sold here are manufactured in the United States, many by union members.

"If you get too carried away by brand names, you may be coming closer to doing American workers more harm than good," Johnson said. "You might go out and buy a Zenith that was made in China but pass over a Toshiba that was made in the United States."

And remember, theres always a surefire way to tell where a television is made: look at the box. American trade rules require exporters to stamp the country of origin on the box, usually on the left front side.

Read on for brand names of Asian-made televisions flooding American retailers the IBEW, IUE-CWA and a domestic manufacturer contend are being unfairly imported and sold in the United States.