Well, workplace safety is much more regulated than the enforcement of the minimum wage law for non-coursework internships, which is quite recent. Regardless, it establishes a climate that is Not Good for low-ranking people, and leads me to wonder just how well interns are treated overall.

And 'you'll likely be hired on soon' isn't good enough. If it was for the company where I did my coursework, immediately after, that's one thing, but dangling that over my head now is not on.