Studenti Graffitti, the student wing of Moviment Graffitti, said that it is “concerned about unpaid internships being offered in KSU’s ongoing Careers Expo.”
In a statement on Thursday, the organisation said that “we have been monitoring the situation and have long suspected that companies are offering unpaid internships to students seeking work opportunities outside of university hours.”
Studenti Graffitti claimed that “at least three of the enterprises involved in KSU’s 2023 Careers Expo are offering unpaid internship opportunities.”
The organisation added that it does not exclude that there are more than these three cases, whilst maintaining that all students who work as interns should always be paid a living wage.
“It is completely unfair and inhumane that students take up unpaid internships in exchange for their hard work to gain experience in their field of study,” it said.
“We insist that KSU, as the student council, take action and stand for paid internships for all students, at every company taking part in the Careers Expo. We also demand that KSU vets each company, and refuses entry to those that do not pay their interns,” the organisation said.
It went on to say that “KSU has been promoting private companies as part of its campaign for the Careers Expo.”
“Studenti Graffitti cannot understand how a public entity is promoting and investing its resources in a private enterprise that does not directly benefit students, nor is a sponsor of the student body,” it said.
Studenti Graffitti concluded by reiterating its call for KSU to “reconsider its economic model of sustainability, moving away from private sponsorship to public funding by either governmental investment or through direct student funding.”