Interns of the world: Unite!

Global Intern Strike

EMBARGOED UNTIL 17/02/2017, 10am

- Global protests planned for Monday | Geneva : Place des Nations, 12H30
- EU Ombudsman slams unpaid internships in scathing ruling against EEAS,
- Day of action receives support of MEPs, Swiss MPs, Global Unions, NGOS
- Some UN interns told attending protests could lead to professional consequences
- UN Staff Union stands with interns, says they have nothing to fear

20 February 2017 marks the first ever Global Intern Strike, organised by the Global Intern Coalition. Young
workers from across the world are set to come together and show their united opposition to the worrying and
growing trend of exploitative, exclusionary, unpaid internships.

In Geneva, interns from the UN, NGOs and other employers as well as local students and supporters will take
part in The March of the Missing at 12:30pm on Place Des Nations, to show solidarity with young people
across the world who are excluded from internship opportunities because of their inability to work for free. The
protest is supported by the Swiss Green Party, the Socialist Party of Geneva, a selection of local and
international unions (including the UN staff union) as well as the We Pay Our Interns Coalition; a group of over
25 Geneva NGOs who advocate for improved intern conditions. The protest will be followed by an evening
discussion from 18h30 at the Impact Hub featuring a range of speakers including Swiss MP, Lisa Mazonne.

Internationally, The Global Intern Strike will consist of a decentralised series of events, organised by local
groups in cities around the world. Actions will include protests, walkouts and marches, political panels and
debates. The day of action is occurring under the banner of a strike to demonstrate the increasing organisation
of the intern workforce, and to make clear that fair internships are a vital issue for young people, the labour
movement and the wider economy.

We are calling for: equal access to fair, quality internships.

- Equality: Internships need to be paid so that they are accessible to all, regardless of their socio-economic
background
- Fairness: Interns must have basic employment rights such as protection from harassment and fair working
conditions.
- Quality: Internships should offer meaningful learning that helps young people successfully transition from
education to employment.

Unpaid internships are most associated with professionalized industries such as public affairs, finance and
media sectors, but their prevalence is growing in other sectors across the globe. Last November, students in
Italy occupied a McDonalds after the government and big-businesses created a program that forced high-
school students to take part in work experience programs by interning for a range of billion dollar corporations,
including the global fast food giant. The same model is also spreading in China, where students work as
unpaid interns for the notorious tech manufacturing company FoxConn - assembling consumer electronics for
export.

It is estimated that in Europe alone there are over three million young people working as unpaid interns per
year, equivalent to the entire workforce of Denmark. While advocates of unpaid internships claim that they are
a learning experience, interns usually complete real work of real value for their employers, while receiving little
or no remuneration or basic workplace protections. Furthermore, as internships become a key stepping stone
into the wider labour market, those who cannot afford to work for free are left behind, limiting social mobility,
increasing inequality and wasting the wealth of human capital young people have to offer.
The Global Intern Strike has already received backing from a number of organisations and leaders including
trade unions, politicians, lawyers, NGOs and academics. 20 February will see the movement build on this
momentum, as young people unite to call on employers and politicians to recognise the value of intern labour
as well as the dangers of unpaid or poor quality internships.

Media Contacts:
Geneva: Jamie Osbourne, Fair Internship Initiative Geneva
+4176 639 96 03
fii.geneva@gmail.com

Brussels: Bryn Watkins, Brussels Interns NGO

bryn.watkins@bingo-brussels.eu
0032 (0)489 888 003

New York: Christian Johnson, Fair Internship Initiative New York

fii.unhq@gmail.com
6463223105

Washington DC:
Carlos Vera, Pay Our Interns
info@payourinterns.com www.payourinterns.com

Quote Bank
Unpaid internships, zero hour contracts and other forms of precarious work are trapping young people in poor
quality employment and wasting their potential. We endorse the Global Intern Strike and stand alongside these
young people speaking up for their most basic workers rights!
- Rosa Pavanelli, Public Services International Trade Union Federation
-
Far from better preparing young people for economic life, unpaid internships have the potential to leave youth
in an economically more vulnerable position than they would be in had they never undertaken the internship in
the first place.
- UN World Youth Report, 2016

In current times of crisis and after the Brexit, which young people overwhelmingly opposed, this ruling in
favour of paid internships gives me hope that EU institutions will stand up for our generation and for European
values. I lost 7kg of my body weight during my internship because I couldn't afford all the food I needed. With
other intern colleagues we went to as many receptions as possible where we could eat for free the left overs.
But sometimes they would kick hungry interns out. My hope is that all interns will be paid and recognize their
legal status including a health insurance and other basic rights.
- Pau Petit, Former Unpaid Intern at the EEAS, Geneva

We very strongly support the Global Intern Strikes and the demand to have equal access to fair quality
internships.
- Terry Reintke, MEP, EU Parliaments Youth Intergroup