Target faces AFT boycott over ICE response in Minneapolis
A major teachers’ union is urging its members not to teach this lesson Aim The latest development in a series of boycotts targeting the department store retailer as back-to-school supplies are purchased is that its return is showing signs of life, CNBC has learned.
The AFT, or American Federation of Teachers, passed a resolution Thursday urging its 1.8 million members and others to shop at local stores and not Target, saying the company has failed to adequately respond to increased federal immigration enforcement this winter in the retailer’s hometown of Minneapolis. Federal agents shot and killed two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during the operation.
AFT President Randi Weingarten said the AFL-CIO-affiliated labor union plans to call for a similar resolution at the AFL-CIO’s convention in Minneapolis this summer and at meetings held by other organizations, including the NAACP and LULAC.
Target declined to comment.
Target’s annual sales have declined for the past three years in a row, but the company’s new CEO Michael Fiddelke laid out an ambitious plan earlier this month to revamp its stores, add more attractive products and return to sales growth. The retailer said it expects net sales to increase by about 2% this fiscal year compared to the previous year and expects sales to increase each quarter.
It’s unclear whether and how much the AFT’s call for a back-to-school boycott could hurt Target as it tries to win back customers. Earlier this month, Atlanta-area pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant Announced that the boycott that lasted for a year has ended of the company called Quick Target, This began because the company was backtracking on major diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. At a press conference, Bryant said Target: showed his determination To the Black community by investing in Black businesses and donating to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Other activists leading a separate boycott, including former Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner, said they continue to urge shoppers to stay away from Target.
The retailer attributed some of the sales losses to the backlash created by the DEI decision, as well as other factors such as the company’s product missteps, a weaker store experience and softer discretionary spending.
At an investor meeting in Minneapolis in early March, Fiddelke emphasized that this was “a new chapter for Target.” He said the company is “working to connect with new guests, deepen relationships with existing guests, and regain the trust of guests we’ve disappointed.”
In a separate email to Target employees earlier this month, Fiddelke highlighted how the retailer is executing on its strategy, including a move to cut prices on more than 3,000 products and the opening of its 2,000th store. Noting that the Target Fast boycott is over, he said Target has also made progress in regaining trust.
He said Target has “engaged in ongoing discussions with the organizers” of the boycott and that they “recognize the meaningful contributions Target has made and will continue to make to the Black community.”
In an interview with CNBC, Weingarten said the AFT’s boycott was focused on what he called the AFT’s boycott. Target not responding the rise of aggressive and violent immigration enforcement in its own backyard. Weingarten said the AFT sent a letter to Target and met with Target staff to encourage them to talk before the union passed the resolution.
“Target had been negotiating with our colleagues in the civil rights community for weeks and weeks and weeks,” he said. “They could handle both very easily [concerns about DEI and immigration enforcement] And they chose not to.”
He said Target is “more concerned about standing with the Trump administration than it is about the communities that make them a profitable company.”
Fiddelke joins dozens of executives from Minnesota-based companies. co-signing a letter In late January a “immediate relief of tensionBut the letter did not name the shooting victims, Pretti or Good, or call out the president, his immigration policies or federal agents.
Fiddelke also shared a video message with employees acknowledging current events more directly, but stopped short of calling for ICE officers to leave town or for accountability in the two shooting incidents.
Weingarten called the CEOs’ letter “insulting” and said it “basically blames both parties.”
The union, which includes many teachers, could have the biggest financial impact during the back-to-school shopping season this summer and fall, he said. By passing the resolution now, he said, the AFT could get the news out to members and “give Target sufficient time to come to its senses.”
