Just when it seemed like Target had turned the page on its controversies, a powerful new advocacy group is taking aim at the retailer.
Target reported negative comps last year as it faced backlash after cutting back its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. That decision was prompted by backlash against its pro-DEI policies. Somehow, Target became the lightning rod for a couple of opposing political movements.
“Target spent two years getting dragged over culture-war noise. They flipped the script by dropping the fluff and focusing on why people actually walk into their stores every week: groceries and essentials,” RTM Nexus CEO Dominick Miserandino recently told TheStreet.
“Foot traffic is back, food sales are up, and same-day fulfillment is carrying the load. They stopped trying to be a fancy department store alternative and started acting like a reliable everyday hub.”
But now, Target is facing new boycott calls from the American Federation of Teachers, a powerful union that features nearly 1.9 million members, in the middle of the important back-to-school shopping season.
National teachers’ labor union calls for Target back-to-school boycott
With parents getting ready to send their kids back to school across the country, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is launching its “Shop Smart, Support Working Families” campaign, which urges teachers and families to shop at retailers other than Target for school supplies.
AFT is asking its 1.87 million members and 3,000 local affiliates to avoid shopping at Target due to the company’s stance on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detentions at its stores.
According to the AFT, its members spend an average of $895 of their own money on school supplies each year and hold billions in Target stock via their pension funds. The group passed a resolution in March demanding that the Minneapolis-based company speak up against “ICE atrocities in their own backyard.”
ICE officers were part of a high-profile detention action in the city that resulted in massive protests inside their Minneapolis stores, CBS News shared in a post on X (the former Twitter).
In February, the BBC reported that more than 300 staff signed an internal letter urging executives to speak out against ICE and take steps to keep ICE officers off Target properties.
AFT President Randi Weingarten also wrote to Target CEO Michael Fiddelke twice outlining the union’s concerns about ICE operations at Target, but did not receive a response.
Related: Target admits it still has big problems to fix
“We gave Target ample time to stand with the communities in which they operate and help their neighbors, but its silence about federal immigration abuses has been deafening,” said Weingarten, according to WNYLaborToday.
“The issue could not be more pressing: Seven months since the murders of Alex Pretti and Renée Good, masked ICE agents are still in our streets, our schools and our communities, terrorizing families in the name of Donald Trump’s illegal and immoral assault on immigrants striving for their American Dream. That’s why we’re urging our members to avoid Target and patronize more ethical shopping alternatives this back-to-school season.”
Target did not immediately return a request for comment from TheStreet.
AFT helps members avoid Target
It wouldn’t be much of a boycott if the AFT didn’t provide shopping alternatives outside of Target, so the organization created ShopSmart.AFT.org.
There, members can submit their ZIP codes to get mapped results of “community-friendly” back-to-school shopping options, including unionized businesses, that the AFT promises have “price points comparable to Target’s.”
“We’re disappointed that Target has failed to live up to its promises to be a good neighbor to the families who have shopped there for years,” said Natasha Dockter, vice president of the teacher chapter of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, as The Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
“That’s why I’m proud to join with my union family to shop local this fall and skip Target until its executives reconsider and join their voices with ours.”
The AFT says its members spend hundreds of millions of dollars at Target annually and its pension funds, which hold an estimated $4 trillion in assets, hold direct ownership of nearly 6.8 million Target shares.
Target knows back-to-school season is important
Students going back to school and college need supplies, and for decades, Target has been one of the cheapest options for families looking to make sure their students are well-prepared for the upcoming school year.
Target executives kept mentioning the back-to-school season on the company’s most recent earnings call.
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They highlighted the reason why Target is so popular during the season, declaring that 95% of its school supplies are priced at or below last year’s prices. The company’s third-quarter earnings call will undoubtedly be focused on its performance during these important shopping weeks.
“We would probably fill up the rest of the time talking about back-to-school and back-to-college. I think it might be a favorite season of some of those on the call here,” Target CEO Michael Fiddelke said on the call. “And to hear our guests play back what they’re excited about gives us confidence that what we’re offering for back-to-school and back-to-college is really resonating.”
The company said it was seeing “broad-based strength in everything from school supplies to kids’ apparel,” highlighting that the season is about more than just notebooks and pencils, but also extends into other items such as makeup, clothing, and food.
Related: Target pledges price cuts as sales grow