Re OJT/working for free:
I have no idea of the situation in Bahrain or the USA, but to give you my UK (charter airline) perspective - nobody looking to gain unpaid experience working with us is viewed as free labour, or devaluing the industry.
As background to anyone outside of the UK; when I started in the industry 20+ years ago with a BigAirline, the majority of people came from airline/MRO appenticeships or the services.
Now the majority seem to be paying for college/university courses as the previous apprenticeship schemes are no longer available or have much reduced intakes & the forces contract. These courses mostly promise an 'A' (mechanics) or 'B1/B2' (engineer(IA in USA scheme?)) licence at the end - which will be frozen subject to the individual gaining the required 3/5 years experience.
These guys will go looking for experience during college holidays & after their course ends, as (1)without it they cannot hold the licence & (2)due to lack of experience they are also no use to an airline/MRO - so they are then stuck in the situation so despised of previous posters, they must work for free to gain experience as there is no other way in - & they will probably have spent a fair bit of money at this point.
Now, how are these guys treated at the outfit I work for?
Firstly - we have seemingly endless requests to come for work experience with us.
We try & accomodate as many as possible, but only take those that seem to be commited to the career & won't waste our time.
These guys get a limited time to come & work with us as there as constraints on periods thay can be issued an airside pass.
Secondly - These guys are NOT viewed as free/cheap labour. On the contrary they actually take up the time of the most experienced Engineers & Mechanics, who have to escort them on the airfield & spend time teaching them instead of carrying out their normal duties, they are NEVER viewed as productive manpower.
We have had mixed experiences with these guys, some have been keen as mustard & subsequently been first in the queue when vacancies have come up, some have wasted our time & made us wonder why they've bothered paying for the courses they are on.
Why do we carry on taking people looking for experience, & believe me it is a faff for all concerned? If we don't who will & where will the future Engineers & Mechanics come from?
Some of the previous posts appear to be tarring these guys as scabs/blacklegs. Out of order IMHO.
Good luck to the OP.