Internships and worker exploitation

Hardly a week goes by now without the media reporting on another company accused of ripping off workers by underpaying them, not making them aware of their conditions or conveniently missing out on paying their super contributions for long periods of time (Josh Bornstein, “Under-waged gigs”, December 7-13). But there is another aspect of worker exploitation that is occurring mostly among the young. The term intern used to mean those who had just finished their medical degree and needed to work in a hospital under supervision, but not anymore. Many young people seem to be accepting positions as interns whereby they work for free over a set period of time with the hope of a paying full-time job. A friend who graduated from university agreed to work two days a week over a 12-week period for free in the expectation of a paying job. In the third week she was asked to do a third day, again without pay, to which she agreed. By week four she realised she wasn’t doing any work in the area of her qualification, just general clerical duties, which she was already doing two days a week in a paid job. She left, with seven other interns still working there for two days a week, each unpaid. This employer had 15 staff, of whom eight had been working for free. It seems there is no law to stop such exploitation of “interns”. No wonder the government and employer associations want to continue the erosion of unions from the workplace.

– Con Vaitsas, Ashbury, NSW