Stay On Your Own Side Of The Tracks!

The Obama administration’s top law enforcement officer at the Labor Department, M. Patricia Smith, is targeting companies that give young people unpaid internships. She claims that internships are rife with abusive practices and that serious violations of labor law are widespread.

Arguing that interns should get paid at least minimum wage, Ms. Smith and the White House risk destroying free employees to companies world wide.

Statements by the Obama administration suggest that their actions are not motivated only by the welfare of the kids who currently get internships. They also worry that unpaid internships might disadvantage less-affluent students, who might not be able to afford to spend their summers at unpaid jobs.

What do you think? Should companies be required to pay at least minimum wage? Should internships be made available to those young people who can afford to spend an extended period of time working a job for no pay? Do you think it’s fair that only more ‘well to do’ students have access to the on-the-job training and the future business/profressional contacts made while working these types of internships?

Is the Obama administration correct? Is it possible that unpaid internships further the gap in the middle class by continuing to provide training and services to more influential jobs only to those who are already from ‘the right side of the tracks’?

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Washington Times