Ditto here. Unpaid labor is nothing more than slavery. Worse, actually, for the slave at least got food, clothing, and shelter.
What, I lose MY right to volunteer?
Besides it isn’t for nothing. It’s for creds to future employers who would otherwise turn me away. This is like saying universities should pay students for doing schoolwork!
That's ridiculous. Interns in technical professions, espeically those around for a short time, really don't contribute much. The time experienced people spend keeping them busy detracts from their own work, and what the intern produces is often of less value than that foregone work. Companies are doing a public service letting unproductive kids hang around and get their feet wet.
The slavery thing is just dumb. Isn't the whole idea of slavery is its involuntary nature? The intern can walk out the door anytime. And did the experience an old South slave gained in the cotton field, set him up for a cushy, highly lucrative plantation manager position down the road?
No, “slavery” requires a coercive force be involved.
If the worker agrees to work without monetary compensation, that’s their business.
Isn't charity work "unpaid labor"?
If the unpaid labor is FORCED or COERCED, you could have an argument there. But when the unpaid labor is voluntarily given, then it bears no resemblance to slavery. And if you have multiple applicants clamoring for the opportunity to work in one of those "worse than slavery" internships, then what does that say about your argument?