Letter: AVEQ Invites Students To Join the National Strike Against Unpaid Internships
Exploitation Is Not a Vocation!
The Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec applauds all the student associations who are taking the week to mobilize across the province of Quebec against unpaid internships. Our message is clear, we believe that all internships should be classified as work under the law and should be governed under Quebec’s labour law standards. Exploitation is not a vocation!
Since 2017, AVEQ has taken an active role in supporting the development of the Coalition Against Unpaid Internships and supports their demands. We have offered financial support in the past to their strike efforts, as well as assistance for their promotional campaigns. We have also collaborated with the association for students in education at Université du Québec à Montréal and on upcoming research on the impacts of unpaid internships on the student population. This research will be launched in the forthcoming winter semester.
Today, we wish to offer our solidarity with all the student associations on strike for the payment of their internships, particularly our member association of L’Association Générale Étudiante de l’Université de Rimouski. Their students voted last Wednesday to strike for three days against unpaid internships. During our summer congress our members voted for AVEQ to support all student associations who have adopted strike mandates against unpaid internships from the fall of 2018 to the winter of 2019. We have also been given the mandate to participate in the mobilizations to underscore the serious issue of unpaid internships.
This is why we invite all our members, supporters and the general student population to take part in this year’s annual National March For the Remuneration of All Unpaid Internships happening in Montreal on Nov. 21. We will be meeting at Parc Émilie Gamelin, near Berri-UQAM metro at 3 P.M. We hope to see you there.
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