All work, no pay makes intern mad

Friday, October 16, 1998

All work, no pay makes intern mad

PROFIT: Students must collectively repudiate uncompensated
work

So summer has now come and gone, and what did you do? If some of
you were anything like me, you tacitly succumbed to the growing
trend in student exploitation on the job market today: the unpaid
internship.

While the internship aspect of this notion, offhand, may present
itself as an excellent opportunity to develop career preparatory
skills while showing oneself to be a reliable, respectable worker,
I sincerely take issue with the unpaid aspect. Many interns engage
in the same activities as regular employees while managing the
grunt work of phoning, faxing and copying ­ even the
occasional lunch run. Even if they are learning the business, they
provide an invaluable service to the company. Even if they stuff
envelopes all day long, this service is something that employers
could only equal through working longer hours or hiring a temp for
minimum wage. And here’s the key term: minimum wage ­ the
lowest monetary compensation a person can receive for providing a
service of some sort. I think that in such a situation, we interns
are entitled to at least this.

Perhaps employers believe that their businesses are trade
schools, instructing their interns one-on-one with hands-on
experience. And perhaps if most employers actually did that, things
would be different. But they don’t, and they’re not. Between my
experiences and a slew of other stories that have graced my ears
over the years, there exists no such thing. Many interns not only
carry the burden of heavy clerical work but also do not receive the
precious instruction they assumed they would receive coming into
it. These interns are also devoid of the respect of their
‘co-workers’ and boss. My guess is that such disrespect stems from
the fact that interns don’t get paid, hence they’re providing their
services for free. And to do that, one must either be stupid, or,
well, stupid.

Whether it be for the year, winter break or this coming summer,
many of us will soon begin arduously researching part-time job
opportunities outside of this campus ­ exploring our fields
while still within the safety net of college. And living in the
city of movie stars, the glamour of Hollywood will entice many to
take a position in the communications industries, where the
preponderance of unpaid internships lie.

‘Is that so wrong, Lisa?’ you ask in naive confusion.

Oh, my child, how wrong it is indeed!

‘But they say an unpaid position can look impressive on a
resume, displaying a deep willingness to learn for something beyond
money,’ you say.

I will tell you that no matter how good something looks, it has
to feel right, and after months of cleaning up dried coffee-stains
on the copy machine, believe me, it won’t feel like the greatest
thing since sliced bread.

Of course, I am being somewhat facetious. Most unpaid positions
are not just about cleaning up other people’s messes or faxing
until your fingers turn blue. But as an unpaid position progresses,
a resentment tends to harbor inside the student ­ and
understandably so. After all, free labor is not to be toyed with
lightly.

So I thought I’d do a little research, and what I found will
likely stun most of you. Under the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA), most workers are subject to minimum wage laws ­
including interns. Under the established criteria set forth by the
act, most situations require that workers be paid. One of the
requirements that struck me the most (and sent me into an uproar of
laughter) is that the business cannot benefit from the job or
internship. I’d love to see unpaid internship employers wriggle
their slippery bodies out of this one! Indeed, it is unlikely that
a business would not in some way profit from today’s interns who
provide services ranging from finding new clients to performing
small but necessary office tasks to writing material for the
company ­ with their supervising employees sometimes taking
the credit, no less. Furthermore, if these criteria are not adhered
to, the business can be held responsible and may be forced to pay
wages as well as other penalties. In this light, how can we allow
such a legitimate grievance to go unnoticed?

Maybe the first question to ask is how such a grievance even
began. No doubt, the beginnings of the unpaid internship must have
been noble, stemming from the apprenticeships of ages past. But
just what accounts for the recent rise in unpaid internships around
the Los Angeles area, especially within the media organizations? My
guess is it’s the intensely competitive atmosphere that has been
festering for years, as today’s high-school seniors might as well
slaughter themselves if they can’t get that 4.3 and 1,400 SAT
score. Take, for example, two equally qualified students.

Frank will work for five dollars an hour, but Jane will work for
four dollars an hour. The answer is clear for the cost-cutting
employer: chuck Frank and hire the dummy ­ I mean, person
­ who will work for less. But then Mary comes along and
figures (correctly) that she’ll get the job if she works for three
dollars an hour. Before you know it, we’re talking negative
numbers. Hence, the unpaid internship quandary. And don’t think
employers today don’t know this … aren’t aware of the fierce
competition … aren’t aware that they can get away with
exploitation under the guise of ‘job experience.’

I will concede that an internship itself can be especially
rewarding. It can allow students to witness how an industry really
operates, make contacts, solicit advice and master the skills for
later success in their field. It is also a priceless evaluative
tool for judging whether one really wants to work in a specific
career, which can save considerable time (and face) after college,
when we’d like to think we know how the real world operates but
haven’t a clue. Yet the fact remains that any service comes with a
price. Now, if employers want to offer school credit and the
student is agreeable, I’m all for it. It is an acceptable form of
compensation where students can substitute work experience for
college units. In most other circumstances, though, the answer is
clearly monetary recompense.

At a time when thousandths of a GPA point stand between me and
over thirty thousand UCLA students, it would be strange for me to
ask us to band together. But I feel it is the only choice. Until we
stand up against the injustice (namely by all of us refusing to
work for free) we will continue to be abused and taken advantage
of.

And yet, I fear that if some unpaid internships can give us the
coveted ‘professional experience’ on our résumé and mean
a job after graduation over the next guy, many of us will make that
sacrifice. As for me, I’ve done my time and am hanging up my hat.
Because, as I have learned, there is no worse sacrifice than the
sacrifice of human dignity.Lisa Silver

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