Hillary Clinton: Don’t Rely on Unpaid Interns

As reported, the Clinton campaign “isn’t just taking on college students with political science degrees but expecting political veterans to gamble their careers on her without pay.” This is a reflection of how desirable and advantageous working on her campaign can be for anyone interested in a political career. And when college students do it during the summer, it feels appropriate. But hiring experienced college graduates ‘for free’ means that those college kids won’t be getting that experience after all, while those who can afford the risk of not having income or giving up an existing job are rewarded with the chance of making it onto the campaign.

This is the kind of filter we’ve seen used by other high-status sectors in the economy - arts, entertainment, media, fashion - that result in a smaller pool of new entrants. When a Democratic candidate uses internships in this way while talking about the need to address inequality, we need to point out the hypocrisy.

I’m taking the time to write this petition as a woman excited about the possibility that a woman will become President for the first time in our history. But it matters what kind of values her campaign represents; I’m also a Democrat and an experienced political campaigner who has worked with interns and low-paid staff. The media will be scrutinizing her campaign for evidence of hypocrisy, and looking at how it reflects - or fails to reflect - the core values of the Democratic Party.

Some of the people I met working on campaigns would never have had that opportunity if they were competing to work for free years after entering the field. I know I couldn’t have. What does America lose when the barrier to entry for an experienced political professional when you have to quit a job and work for free just to have a shot at a low paid job so that someday, you can win big?

It's everything wrong with DC today and an example of how inequality becomes entrenched in the very fabric of our political systems.

The issue of inappropriate or exploitative unpaid internships has been given a lot of attention in recent years. There have been a number of successful lawsuits by former interns. [2] One of the sources for the Guardian story is Mikey Franklin, founder of the Fair Pay Campaign [3], an admirable effort to address the exploitation of ‘unpaid interns’ that also addresses how they make inequality worse in general, even if the interns are ‘eager to be exploited.’ While political campaigns and nonprofits sometimes think they are exempt from this logic, the reality is that both are pyramids of a sort where layers of low-paid or unpaid people help support very large salaries at the top, access to wealthy donors and corporate partners, and inclusion in the ‘old-boy’ networks used for recruiting well-paid positions down the road.

I hope that everyone who cares about the composition of the next generation of idealistic yet experienced campaign operatives to descend on Washington DC isn’t made up exclusively of those who can afford to work for free. Sign this petition and share it on social media, and together we can make a difference.

(If we hear that any other Democratic campaign is engaged in similar practices, we’ll add them to this petition.)

Footnotes
[1] Hillary Clinton's unpaid intern limbo: a grassroots campaign of 'free help'. The Guardian, 6/14/15.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/13/hillary-clinton-unpaid-summer-intern-campaign
[2]Unpaid interns: An endangered species? Politico, 2/1/15 http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/unpaid-interns-114783.html
[3] Equal Pay Campaign: http://www.fairpaycampaign.com/

We are Mari Engelhardt BA, LNHA & Sarah Cave BFA, MA
MARI: I am the mother of two grown feminist boys from the battleground state of Ohio. My commitment to democratic politics was instilled by my grandmother and informs my daily life. I care about the future of our democracy, our nation, our planet. My children are the first generation that is not better off than the last, I want better for my grandchildren. I am currently a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator.

My Interest in politics began in high school, I was a volunteer for Jimmy Carter. Since then, my political career has included: campaign staffer for a progressive presidential candidate, a U.S. Congressman (now a U.S. Senator), the county Democratic party, campaign management for advocacy groups and LGBT equality campaigns as well as for local school levies.

SARAH: I’m a creative professional and progressive. I freelance as a prop stylist, set designer, and creative director and I’ve worked mostly in fashion and print publishing for the last fifteen years. Over many years of hiring assistants and PA crews, I’ve always rejected the idea of using interns in what should be paid positions. Too many companies in my industry expect their entry-level hires to have some kind of independent income as is.

A college graduate interning in NYC means a college graduate whose parents are able to pay their rent and all their bills, every last drink at a bar. Not many parents can afford this and it perpetuates a system I don’t like or agree with.