ABSTRACT
In 1994, when Minnesotan activists first began working on corporate accountability issues, any discussion of what constituted a “living wage” was far from front-page news, and the term “corporate welfare” had just been coined. Focusing efforts on winning living wage legislation created a political context for groups across the state to work together and to begin to play off of each other's efforts. Although the November election set back living wage efforts, living wage supporters secured commitments from the St. Paul and Minneapolis city councils to form a Twin Cities Joint Living Wage Task Force. In 1994, when Minnesotan activists first began working on corporate accountability issues, any discussion of what constituted a “living wage” was far from front-page news, the term “corporate welfare” had just been coined. Across the nation, corporate accountability campaigns have responded to a political climate where worker wages have stagnated at the same time corporate profits and government subsidies to private businesses continue to grow.
