One of the biggest lies ever sold to Americans is that unions inherently care about the industries they claim to represent, that teachers’ unions, for instance, put students and educational excellence ahead of their own institutional interests. Like any other organization or individual, unions ultimately look after their own bottom line. The danger is that too many people have convinced themselves otherwise.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), is the latest example. Amid an affordability crisis she routinely invokes, Weingarten is urging families to skip Target for back-to-school supplies because the company declined to publicly condemn Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota. The AFT’s campaign directs families instead toward “ethical” alternatives, including unionized and local retailers, which often are more expensive for families already struggling.
Randi Weingarten announced her new website directing people to shop at stores other than Target.
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) August 24, 2026
Why? Because Target "remained silent" on ICE.
Not because they promoted ICE. But because they didn't actively oppose ICE.
The teachers unions must be dismantled. pic.twitter.com/ygobS1lQAc
Why are unionized stores more expensive? For a simple reason: higher wages have to be paid for somehow. Businesses can reduce staff, cut hours, or raise prices. More often than not, consumers end up subsidizing the wage increases at the checkout counter. In other words, the union cares only about the worker, not you. It is willing to make shoppers pay more to support the compensation packages it has secured for its members. So in all reality, Weingarten is encouraging families who take her alleged concern for affordability at face value to help fund that process.
Again, unions do not primarily exist to improve the industries they operate in or to serve the broader interests of American consumers. They exist to maximize the gains of their own members, whether through wages, benefits, or negotiating leverage. That is the same self-interest unions routinely condemn when they see it in CEOs and corporations. But self-interest does not disappear when it is organized under a union banner.
In many cases, unions are worse. There is often only one union at a workplace, leaving workers, employers, and consumers with little meaningful choice. In that sense, unions have become the very thing they claim to oppose, monopolistic, profit-maximizing entities concerned first and foremost with their own interests.
"It's Randi Weingarten again, president of the AFT, with another weekly update," Weingarten said in a video encouraging families to shop at stores other than Target. "Students, families, and educators across the country are busy getting ready for the new school year. In fact, many are already in their new school year. And this week, the AFT launched a nationwide campaign to urge people to shop at retailers other than Target for their back-to-school supplies and back-to-school clothes."
"Target's corporate headquarters are in Minneapolis, where ICE's cruel and illegal immigration tactics have left vulnerable communities, including countless children, in a permanent state of fear. Target could have used its considerable clout to demand an end to these inhumane tactics, but it has remained silent as ICE's terror and brutality campaign has spread across the country. You can go to the campaign website, shopsmart.aft.org, give your zip code, and you'll get map results of community-friendly back-to-school shopping alternatives near you, including unionized businesses with price points that are comparable to Target's. Again, that website is shopsmart.aft.org."
BREAKING: Randi Weingarten announces her new website directing people to shop at stores other than Target.
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) August 22, 2026
Why? Because Target "remained silent" on ICE.
Not because they promoted ICE. But because they didn't actively oppose ICE.
The crazy teachers unions must be dismantled. pic.twitter.com/KlkY4WNm2y
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