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Labour election chief pays interns just £4 a DAY: Party tries to claim staff were volunteers after earlier pledging to champion the low paid
- Email from MP Toby Perkins reveals that interns are paid £25 per week
- That equates to £4 per day for putting in a 12-hour shift helping campaign
- Labour swore to up minimum wage and promote living wage in manifesto
- Party denies using interns and said the group are actually volunteers
By Chris Pleasance for MailOnline
Toby Perkins, deputy chairman of the Labour election campaign, revealed in an email that his interns are paid just £4 per day for 12-hour shifts
Labour has been accused of ‘utter hypocrisy’ after it was revealed interns working for one of their election chiefs are paid just £4 per day while the party claims to champion the low paid.
An email sent by Toby Perkins, who is deputy chairman of the Labour election campaign as well as MP for Chesterfield, revealed that interns are paid just £25 per week for working 12-hour days.
Now Labour is trying to get around the problem by saying the interns will be paid nothing at all, making them volunteers rather than workers.
The email, published in The Sun, reveals that alongside their measly wage, interns could expect to be reimbursed for travel, as well as being put up in accommodation during the campaign.
Mr Perkins had last week denied employing any interns, despite advertising for five ‘enthusiastic, motivated and hard-working Campaign Interns’ online on March 8.
The advert, which says the interns will be paid for travel, food and accommodation, adds: ‘This is an excellent opportunity to receive training in and get first hand experience of Labour Campaigns, as part of a driven and highly motivated team.’
Labour’s 2015 manifesto has sought to champion working-class Britons by increasing the minimum wage to £8 per hour, promoting the Living Wage, and banning zero-hours contracts.
Philosophers stone – selected views from the boat
http://philosophers-stone.co.uk
Source: http://philosophers-stone.co.uk/wordpress/2015/04/labour-election-chief-pays-interns-just-4-a-day-party-tries-to-claim-staff-were-volunteers-after-earlier-pledging-to-champion-the-low-paid/
