Studenti Graffiti Demand Ban On Unpaid Internships: ‘Students Are Not Cheap Labour’
Studenti Graffitti, the student wing of Moviment Graffitti, has sounded the alarm over unpaid internships being offered in KSU’s ongoing Careers Expo.
“We have been monitoring the situation and have long suspected that companies are offering unpaid internships to students seeking work opportunities outside of university hours,” the group wrote in a press statement.
The student group said they confirmed at least three of the enterprises involved are offering unpaid internship opportunities.
While not excluding that there are more than these three cases, Studenti Graffitti said that all students who work as interns should always be paid a living wage.
“It is completely unfair and inhumane that students take up unpaid internships in exchange for their hard work to gain experience in their field of study,” they added, calling on KSU, Malta’s student council, to take action.
“We also demand that KSU vets each company, and refuses entry to those that do not pay their interns.”
KSU is promoting private companies and investing its resources in a private enterprise that does not directly benefit its students nor is a sponsor of the student body, the group affirmed.
“Studenti Graffitti reiterates its call for KSU to reconsider its economic model of sustainability, moving away from private sponsorship to public funding by either governmental investment or through direct student funding.”
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