It’s a hot socialist summer – but not for these interns

Former interns for the New York City Council and the state Legislature rallied in front of City Hall to demand a $32 wage for all interns across City Council district offices and to announce they have filed a class-action lawsuit against New York City for unfair termination and retaliation.

Last week, City & State reported that Mina Farahmand, an unpaid intern in City Council Member Harvey Epstein’s office, was let go one day after she launched a campaign to ask the council to pay all of its interns. Epstein, who chairs the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection, said in a statement to City & State, “The decision to terminate our intern was not made lightly or abruptly. This choice was fully unrelated to organizing taking place and was instead performance-related. Our office has had an explicit policy that interns are brought in for either pay or academic reasons. We always support the opportunity for people to organize and advocate for themselves. My staff made this decision and I stand behind them in their choice.”

Farahmand, wearing her “Hot Socialist Summer” T-shirt at the rally, said, “How dare they, in this so-called workers’ rights capital of the world fire me for organizing for pay as an unpaid intern.” She said she was let go in response to her attempting to organize her fellow workers to demand fair wages. A second intern was also fired after reposting a video in support of the movement.

At the rally, a dozen former interns for elected officials chanted: “New York is a union town.” Multiple former interns spoke about their struggle to pay for groceries or pay rent while they were working their unpaid internships and balancing school. They also spoke about the impact of public service internships only going to those who would be able to afford to go without pay.

“Ultimately what we’re asking for is intern pay, and right now we’re confirming that we have the right to organize, that is not a question,” Farahmand said. “Ultimately, we know that we deserve wages, because interns have gone hungry, we have gone without health care, we’ve gone into debt, and that is our main goal right now.”

The current budget infrastructure allows for interns going through the Legislative Fellow program to be paid $32 per hour, which is paid out of the council’s central budget. These fellows can be placed in central staff or in council member’s offices. The fellowships require a completed bachelor’s degree and are full-time paid positions for a year. Farahmand and her fellow interns worked part-time with many also enrolled in school full-time. There are additional internship roles available in the various council caucuses that are also paid $32 per hour. Some interns work for college credit and can receive supplemental stipends for school, but it varies case by case, causing workers to receive disparate pay for doing the same job. The decision to hire unpaid interns lies with each council member.

Before the rally, City Council Speaker Julie Menin said she had always paid her interns while she was a council member and that she finds it important to pay interns. But she reiterated that the council’s policy is for each member to decide on their interns’ pay.

At the rally, Farahmand called on Menin to reallocate the central budget and expand the paid fellow program to cover all interns. Farahmand said the decision was too big to made based on each council member’s stretched budget. She also pointed out what she called the hypocrisy of Epstein championing minimum pay requirements for Deliveristas but not paying his interns.

A spokesperson for Menin said, “Speaker Menin is proud that all City Council central staff interns are paid $32 per hour. The council also operates a one-year paid fellowship program, placing New Yorkers hoping to pursue a career in local government into both central staff and council member offices. Beyond these opportunities, council members have the flexibility to decide who’s on their team and how they spend their office budget.”

Another speaker at the rally, Erin Lawley talked about her unpaid internship with state Sen. Julia Salazar. “I just felt so fortunate to have the experience of having an internship, especially with a politician I viewed as so progressive,” Lawley said. “I think a lot of times in movement work and in these leftist organizing spaces in New York City, we’re told to be OK with a lot of bullshit. I think we’re told to put up with a lot of shit for the sake of the movement, for the sake of organizing.”

Shafeeqa Kolia, a spokesperson for Salazar said, “Senator Salazar would love to pay all interns, but she only receives a budget for full-time staff.” She added that some interns are paid, typically through outside programs like Summer Youth Employment Program, CUNY Pride Policy Fellowship or university stipends.

No elected officials attended the rally despite requests and invitations from organizers. Former Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou was the only current or former elected official in attendance. She spoke about how gross she found Farahmand’s firing and how honorable and difficult it is that she tried to unionize.

When asked why she thinks no other elected official was there, Niou said it was most likely out of fear of reprimand or retribution.