Good afternoon. My name is Annie. I'm the delegate for the riding of Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle in Montreal, Quebec. I'm currently finishing my undergraduate degree at Concordia University.
I'm here to talk about exploitation that's happening in my province, in my city and on my campus. This past March in Quebec, more than 40,000 students across CEGEPs and universities in Montreal, the Laurentians, Sherbrooke, Gatineau and the Outaouais have gone on strike in opposition to unpaid internships and demanded their right to a full salary, standardized working conditions and full protection under Quebec's labour code.
My university student union even made challenging unpaid internships one of its main campaigns of the year, with our journalism, community and public affairs, and communications students going on strike.
Working without pay is explicitly worker exploitation. This is a labour struggle that extends to students across this country. Employers have squeezed every penny of profit at the expense of interns who receive no compensation and no standardized working conditions.
How is it 2019 and it's still acceptable to work without pay? We're told that this is all for exposure, experience or course credit. The truth is that exposure doesn't pay the bills, experience doesn't pay the bills and course credit certainly does not pay the bills.
Students are struggling to keep their heads above water to balance academics and work, and they are trying to network to get their foot in the door for a career, all while hoping their rent is paid on time.
Working class and lower-income students are feeling the brunt of this exploitation. The most economically disadvantaged cannot afford to work for free and hopes of displaying experience on their CV. This leaves them behind, while others who are capable of working for free and are privileged in this position can excel in this competitive labour market that we must all dive into after graduation. The struggle is also intersectional for feminism because women are disproportionately affected by this issue. Most unpaid interns work in traditionally feminized fields such as communications, social work and education, while internships in male-dominated fields such as engineering, accountancy and finance are paid.
I support my student union's call to action that the government remunerate all internships tied to school work and evaluate the quality of internships based on standardized criteria.
This is exploitation. It shouldn't be accepted, and it should be illegal. All workers, especially students, are entitled to their fair wage.
In solidarity with all students, I thank you for your time.