A lot of small businesses, and some larger ones try to supplement their workforce with interns, which effectively can mean a paid worker being displaced for "free" labor. Not only does that give them an unfair advantage against their competitors in the market, but it puts someone out of a job, and takes food off their table.
It's even more prevalent in this recession. However, Federal labor laws actually forbid the usage of interns in this way. It's a clause stating that "
no employer can receive any immediate benefit from the work of an UNPAID intern. " Basically, if you are using an intern in production (that translates into commercial gain), you are violating federal (and usually state) labor laws. It's a case of people trying to abuse the system for their own benefit.
What's really raw about unpaid internships is that the intern has to pay out of pocket expenses (fuel, insurance and wear and tear on their personal vehicles) to travel to an from work. That's on top of being manipulated for free labor.
I can hear the excuses, "well they get VALUABLE work experience" or they can put the work experience on their resume." Newsflash...this just in....PAID work looks even better on a resume!
This is why you see the larger companies generally having
PAID internships. They know they are under the spotlight and held to greater scrutiny. Anyone who comes off with the excuse that unpaid interns are justly compensated with college credit and such have or are abusing/manipulating the institution for their financial gain, plain and simple.
Slavery was routinely excused and popular until it took a bloody Civil War to break it's clutches from a nation.
To those who state my previous analogy to slavery in comparison to the NCAA enriching itself, has no basis; well, it has one common denominator. Greed and manipulation of others for one's own gain.
It's amazing at what length people will go to and what excuses they give for that very purpose.
