DC: Washington Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal will pay her re-election campaign interns after 16 unpaid interns threatened to strike earlier in July.

“The exploitative conditions of our labor differ so drastically from the supposed principles of this campaign that we can no longer, in good faith, continue our work without a critical reevaluation of the conditions of our compensation,” the interns told Jayapal’s campaign staff in a letter, reported online Seattle news site Crosscut.

Jayapal’s team agreed to pay 12 campaign interns approximately $18 per hour for 10 hours of work per week, reported Crosscut.

The letter stressed that unpaid internships filter out all candidates but those who can afford to work without pay, reported Crosscut. read more