Reply #35: Hundreds of people camped out for days in the rain in Queens ..for an application for a job! [View All]

[flyarm]

Apr 26, 2010 8:00 pm US/Eastern
Hundreds Camp Out For Job Opps In Queens
Some Arrived As Early As Friday Armed With Blankets Hoping To Get 1 Of 750 Applications For Elevator Industry Job

http://wcbstv.com/local/jobs.employment.queens.2.1657008.html

By KATHRYN BROWN, CBS 2 HD News
NEW YORK (CBS) ―

An application to work for the Joint Apprentice & Training Committee of the Elevator Industry was handed out to hundreds of people seeking jobs who camped out for days in the rain in Queens on April 26, 2010. Desperate times call for desperate measures – even if it means camping out in the rain for a chance at a job application.

Hundreds of job-seekers did just that in Queens in the hopes of landing a coveted union job.

Construction workers, engineers, electricians -- hundreds spent the weekend right here. Many left with a job application, while many others walked away empty-handed.

"The sky's the limit after this!" said Aaron Johnson of Mount Vernon.

Johnson is living month-to-month, struggling to pay the bills, with a 4-year-old daughter to support -- and he was one of the lucky ones.

After three days of sleeping on the street, he left with one of just 750 job applications handed out for a position as an elevator technician apprentice -- a secure job with pension and benefits and an earning potential up to $40 an hour.

"You don't wanna keep working these dead-end jobs, check to check to check to check. I don't want to do that anymore," Johnson said.

More than 1,000 eager applicants began lining up as early as Friday morning armed with a variety of skills -- and warm blankets.