Hundreds Camp Out For Shot At Elevator Mechanics Union Job

Hundreds Camp Out For Shot At Becoming An Elevator Mechanic

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Hundreds of New Yorkers are camped out at a union local hoping to be first in line for jobs repairing elevators.

The job seekers have set up tents and barbecue grills along four blocks of Queens. They began showing up at 4 a.m. Friday for applications that will be handed out Monday.

The Local 3 elevator mechanics union will hand out 750 applications for 100 apprenticeships.

Apprentices with the union earn $14 to $16 an hour, and full-fledged elevator mechanics can make up to $40 an hour.

Alberto Cortes, a former security guard who has been unemployed for two years, called it "the opportunity of a lifetime."

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