Union Campaign Steers Shoppers Away From Target

Many families feel the pinch when school starts. Teachers often buy supplies with their own money. Parents try to stretch every dollar for notebooks, backpacks and clothes. Randi Weingarten, who leads the American Federation of Teachers, sees this moment as a chance to push shoppers toward stores with union workers.

She launched a campaign called Shop Smart, Support Working Families. It includes a website, ads and a store‑finder tool. The union says Target is being punished because it did not speak out against immigration raids by ICE. The tool shows only stores that employ many union workers. When I typed San Antonio, Texas, the tool gave three Macy’s stores within ten miles. Those shops tend to be pricier than Target.

Weingarten earns more than half a million dollars each year, putting her in the top five percent of earners. Yet the union’s pension fund holds almost six point eight million shares of Target. Asking members to avoid Target could hurt the value of those shares. Critics say this mixes politics with the duty to protect retirement money. Congress is already looking at how the union spent over 1.4 million dollars in dues to promote a book that links conservatives to fascists. Some want the Justice Department to check whether the union is using its funds to pressure companies over political disagreements.

The fight takes energy away from classroom work. Many teachers joined the profession to help kids, not to fight political battles. In New York City, schools spend more than forty thousand dollars per student each year. Still, about forty‑three percent of students attend schools where more than half of their classmates fail to reach basic skill levels in math or reading. Money alone does not improve results when leaders focus on other issues.