DONEGAL students should be paid when doing internships, the leader of the country’s students has said.
The Union of Students in Ireland is also urging the next Government to end Zero Hour Contracts which affects many students working part-time. Dunnes Stores is among companies which implement such policies.
Kevin Donoghue, USI President, said students who are employed with zero hour contracts feel insecure and powerless at work, and called precarious work practises such as JobBridge and unpaid internships “exploitation of young workers”.
“Zero hour contracts are a disservice to everyone involved,” he said.
“They erode stability and increase employment insecurity for employees. People who are contracted with low hours can feel insecure and powerless at work. USI urges the next Government amend the Terms of Employment Information Acts 1994 – 2012 be amended to require employers to provide a statement of working hours which are a true reflection of the hours required of an employee. This requirement should also apply to people working non-guaranteed hours. Students and young people deserve to have the opportunity to work enough hours to be able to afford a decent standard of living.”
USI is also calling on the next Government to legislate for abolition of unpaid internships in favour of a system that enhances the experience of participants, improves quality and increases progression into secure and sustainable employment. The economic crisis of 2007 made a significant impact on the levels of youth unemployment. Young people on the live register trebled in just a three year period from 29,950 in May 2006 (CSO, 2006) to 95,746 by August 2009 (CSO, 2009).
“The Government in 2009 imposed cuts in the Jobseekers Allowance for young people under the age of 26.” Donoghue said, “However, the 2013 Budget saw similar cuts reach young people up to the age of 25 as a tactic to encourage young people to seek work. JobBridge started in 2011 as a temporary initiative which is becoming a permanent, defective and flawed programme.”
A poll commissioned by the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) found that 52% of young people felt exploited by the scheme (2014). As of January 8th 2015, there were a total of 36,434 jobseekers, 10,125 of whom were under the age of 25 who took part in
JobBridge (Humphries, 2015). Participants in the National Internship Scheme receive an extra €50 per week with their social welfare. However, participants in the scheme struggle to meet the extra costs and found the sum of €50 to be inadequate to live (NYCI, 2015).
47% of interns do not receive any employment, while 14% receive employment on a part-time basis which is not sufficient to live in Cork, Galway or Dublin due to the cost of living. Just 27% receive full-time employment (NYCI, 2015). 44% of interns agree that JobBridge is used solely for free labour with 13% neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Young people feel JobBridge internships are pervasive, and lead to job displacement while stunting any job growth for entry-level graduates, especially with value for money (IMPACT, 2015).