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Home – Political News – ‘WILDLY OFF BASE’: Why AFT Is Boycotting Target During Back-to-School Season

‘WILDLY OFF BASE’: Why AFT Is Boycotting Target During Back-to-School Season

The American Federation of Teachers, America’s second-largest teachers union, is encouraging members to boycott the retail giant Target during back-to-school season, not because Target supported Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but because the company has stayed “silent” rather than condemning ICE.

“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,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said in announcing the boycott last week. AFT noted that its 1.875 million members spend an average of $895 of their own money on school supplies each year. AFT created a website, ShopSmart.AFT.org, listing local alternatives to Target.

The boycott campaign’s website includes the logos of major labor unions AFL-CIO and SEIU, alongside activist groups including the League of United Latin American Citizens and Unidos MN.

Unlike many boycotts, the AFT is not accusing Target of taking some action AFT considers inappropriate, such as supporting ICE. Instead, the union faults the Minneapolis-based retailer for not publicly condemning ICE and demanding that it leave Minnesota.

Critics say the boycott is baseless and ineffective, noting that Target’s stock has increased since the AFT launched successive boycott campaigns.

“The AFT’s demands are wildly off-base,” Corey DeAngelis, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, told the Daily Signal in a statement Wednesday. “Target is a public company, not a political action........

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