(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - As Teachers and families head back to school, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has launched a nationwide campaign to urge them to shop at retailers other than Target for their school supplies.

The Shop Smart, Support Working Families Campaign was created in response to Target’s refusal to condemn the unlawful Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity that continues to roil communities around the country.

A new website, ShopSmart.AFT.org, along with an associated digital and print ad initiative, helps Educators and families shop for school supplies at local stores and outlets that respect Labor Rights, instead of at Target.

The AFT’s 1.875 million Members spend an average of $895 of their own money on school supplies each year and hold billions in Target stock via their pension accounts.

In March, the AFT passed a resolution demanding the Minneapolis-based business speak up against the ICE atrocities in their own backyard and called for a comprehensive Back-To-School Campaign if it failed to take meaningful action.

AFT President Randi Weingarten wrote to Target CEO Michael Fiddelke in January - and again in March, outlining the Union’s concerns, but did not receive a constructive response.

In June, the 15 million-Member National AFL-CIO, affiliated with the AFT, passed its own resolution at its Constitutional Convention in Minneapolis, backing the plan and championing the AFT’s push. 

“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,” Weingarten said. “We wrote letters, passed resolutions and reached out to management in good faith but have yet to see any meaningful movement.”

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