Would you ever agree to work fulltime for free? Every year, across Canada, up to 300,000 students and young workers do just that. Unpaid internships are the grim reality for a generation of young people entering the workforce when youth unemployment is at an alltime high. Recent news reports of interns meeting their death after coming off lengthy shifts has sparked debate about the legality of the unpaid internships — be it academic or otherwise. Lisa Hamilton, a recent graduate from Western’s occupational health and safety management program through continuing studies at Western, was indignant when her practicum ended without compensation. “My internship was at a foundry, a machining facility in Stratford,” Hamilton said. “I could not afford to move to Stratford for the course of my practicum, and therefore, had to drive, unpaid, to Stratford to complete my 560-plus hours.” “However, upon completion, I received a company keychain, and some cake. This was a disappointment, as others in my class received job offers, perks [from their work], or a stipend,” she continued. Hamilton also said she was blindsided by the $3,000 tuition fee Western expected her to pay after she completed her practicum.
There’s more sinister aspects than just unpaid work — the culture of unpaid internships also has a gendered, raced, and classed element to it, in which already-vulnerable members of society lose out in the job market. “There’s been research out of the United States that indicates that 77 per cent of unpaid interns are female,” Andres Langille, a labour lawyer with the Canadian Internship Association, said. He explained that the industries with a preponderance of unpaid internships included public relations, fashion, radio and television, journalism, social work, teaching, nutrition, nursing, advertising and magazine publishing. “Those are all mainly femaledominated professions. You don’t see the same level of unpaid internships in the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematical oriented fields. Those internships are paid,” Langille said. Langille viewed unpaid internships as the latest example of systemic discrimination of women in the labour market, citing the historic de-valuation of work done by females. Young people from historically marginalized groups aren’t getting the same shot at the labour market as the children of the dominant class, in what Langille referred to as a “creeping cultural apartheid.”
“Students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, students who are racialized, students who are first or second generation immigrants typically don’t have the same ability to engage in unpaid labour that wealthier students[…] would have,” Langille said. These students were effectively being blocked from accessing key professions in journalism, law, politics, and public administration. Colleen Sutherland, the
internship coordinator in the student success centre, said that while she believes in the legitimacy of Western’s academic internships, she is concerned about unpaid internships students find on their own that aren’t vetted by the school. It is this type of internship — one without pay or academic credit — that is illegal under Ontario labour law. Langille estimated there are between 100,000 and 300,000 of these illegal internships happening every year in Canada. The trend has not gone unnoticed by student groups. Earlier this month, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance released a policy paper urging the provincial government to address the growing problem of unpaid labour. “Unpaid internships are a concern as many in Ontario aren’t providing students with the highimpact educational experiences they want or deserve,” said Amir Eftekarpour, OUSA president, in
a release. “Students are calling on the province to better enforce the Ontario Employment Standards Act to protect them from unfair unpaid work, while also including provisions that support those meaningful, unpaid positions tied to academic study. Kyle Iannuzzi, vice-president operations with the Canadian Internship Association, explained some of the systemic problems unpaid internships create. “The issue is that entry-level jobs now become available for the elite, those that can take on free work, as opposed to the person that might deserve the position the most,” Iannuzzi said. While some students have had positive learning experiences at their internships, the sad reality is that only students who come from money can afford these experiences. A c c o rd i n g to Ni c k >> see internship pg.3
Naira Ahmed Gazette
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