AFT Joins Target Boycott Over DEI Rollback, Urges Educators to Avoid Store

Union Leaders and Activists Call for Target Boycott Over Rescinded DEI Commitments

CHICAGO—Labor Day marked a significant announcement from key union leaders as AFT President Randi Weingarten, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, and Dr. Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, declared their support for a nationwide boycott of Target. This move comes after Target reportedly withdrew its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, allegedly to align with policies from the Trump administration that have been criticized for their impact on communities of color.

The announcement was made during Chicago's “Workers Over Billionaires” Labor Day march and rally, as students and educators prepared to head back to school. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), with its 1.8 million members comprising public school educators, healthcare workers, and government employees, has resolved to support the boycott, urging members to shop elsewhere until Target changes its stance.

Target has reportedly faced significant financial repercussions since the boycott initiated by Bryant, with a loss of over $12 billion in sales and a CEO replacement due to falling consumer confidence and declining stock prices.

The AFT's resolution outlines specific demands for Target, including:

• Honoring its $2 billion commitment to the Black business community;
• Investing millions into 23 Black-owned banks;
• Launching 10 retail training centers at historically Black colleges and universities; and
• Reaffirming its commitment to DEI principles.

"This week, the AFT executive council voted to join this movement’s boycott of Target. We rarely engage in this type of action, but we’re doing so here because Target betrayed promises to communities of color throughout the United States," says Weingarten. “Target rolled back promises to help the people who have been loyal customers, because of a president who is trying to roll back history and ignore the struggle for freedom and justice. Those customers, who have helped Target’s bottom line, now feel set aside, ignored and dismissed."

Dr. Bryant emphasized the importance of the boycott, stating, "The expansion of the 'Target Fast' and subsequent boycott through our monumental partnership with the AFT is more than symbolic—it is prophetic. On this Labor Day, we honor the sweat, sacrifice and struggle of working families whose hands have built this nation and whose voices must never be silenced."

Stacy Davis Gates added, "Every day, Black and brown working-class families walk into Target to spend $100 and leave spending $300. Their hard-earned dollars are fueling Target’s record profits and executive bonuses—even as their schools remain underfunded and their communities underserved. So when Target retreats from its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, it’s not just cowardice—it’s complicity with white supremacy."

AFT Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram remarked, "For years, Black and brown shoppers have shown their loyalty to Target through their hard-earned dollars, only to be told their communities, identities and, indeed, hard-earned money, were no longer important. That betrayal breeds pain, but this ban is not born of anger or spite, but out of an obligation to justice and fairness."

The AFT includes a wide array of professionals, from pre-K to higher education faculty, healthcare workers, and government employees, all standing in solidarity with the boycott effort to demand accountability and equity.

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