Why Is the Teachers’ Union Targeting ICE, Not Education?

Randi Weingarten is using mafia tactics to bully Target into denouncing immigration enforcement by ICE. As president of the American Federation of Teachers—which holds at least 7 percent of Target stock through teacher pension funds—Weingarten sent a letter to Target’s CEO explicitly threatening the company’s relationship with her union’s massive pension holdings unless it publicly opposes ICE operations in Minnesota.

This move was not subtle. Weingarten made clear that the AFT viewed the retailer’s refusal to denounce federal law enforcement as a threat to “shareholder value.” She followed up with additional pressure, leading her union to pass a resolution directing its 1.8 million members to boycott Target for back-to-school shopping. Teachers were told to take their school supply dollars elsewhere if Target remained insufficiently anti-ICE.

This kind of bullying sure smells like a possible breach of fiduciary duty. Pension-fund fiduciaries are legally required to manage investments solely for the financial benefit of participants, not to advance unrelated political causes. Weingarten is using her union’s pension funds to threaten a company over a political disagreement that has nothing to do with education or shareholder value. Such behavior could be illegal under both fiduciary standards governing public pensions and, in the case of the coordinated boycott, potential antitrust rules against secondary boycotts aimed at coercing political action. ---More...