Unpaid, Overworked and Organizing for Fair Pay

The Daily Californian • By Payment 4 Placements at Berkeley • April 9, 2025

“On March 10, UC Berkeley graduate social work students held a walk-in protest in the over 100-year-old Haviland Hall, the home of the social welfare department. Dozens of students holding colorful homemade signs chanted in unison and distributed lists of their demands as administrators walked past them to enter a meeting scheduled with student representatives. The representatives delivered a presentation to social welfare administrators, including Dean Susan Stone, bringing their attention to the urgent issue of required, unpaid internship placements and asking them ‘for allyship and support through a public endorsement of student field work compensation at Berkeley.’

This class walk-in was organized by students as part of a National Week of Action for the student-led labor movement, Payment 4 Placements. Students followed this action with another one later that week, walking out from their individual field placements at social service agencies across the Bay Area to bring awareness to the value that unpaid labor brings to site placements.”

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