DNC Fails Where the Rubber Meets the Road

After Barack Obama stood up Tom Perez for DNC chair in order to prosecute a petty f%$# you to the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party, Perez promised to end unpaid internships at the DNC.

Unpaid internships at a place like the DNC are dishonest (they are doing real work, not just shadowing people and learning), an abusive way of dealing with labor, and discriminatory, because poor people cannot afford to work for free.

Well, it looks like Tom Perez was just kidding:

While running for Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Tom Perez pledged to eliminate unpaid internships at DNC.

“Millennials need more than just a seat at the table, they need a voice in every part of the conversation at the DNC,” tweeted Perez during a DNC chairman’s debate in February. “And creating a paid internship program is a part of my plan to bring in more millennials.”

However, it’s been nearly four months since Tom Perez became chairman, and now the DNC— under Perez’s watch—is employing another set of unpaid summer interns and is currently accepting applications for unpaid internships for the fall.

According to the DNC’s website, unpaid interns are required to work 40 hours per week, leaving little time for interns to work part-time jobs to pay their bills.

It’s unclear if the internships meet the U.S. Department of Labor criteria that determine whether the internships financially benefit the employer. The DOL’s six point test is intended to clarify whether unpaid or educational arrangements are truly beneficial to the intern, and whether or not interns must be paid at least a minimum wage.

Hypocrite.

I understand that money is tight, but paying these people minimum wage is just a rounding error of the money kicked back to various Democratic Party consultants.

There is no excuse for this.