- Plumbers Union program handed out 1,000 applications on Monday
- Asked aspiring plumbers not to set up tents two days early like past years
- But more than 1,200 people camped outside the center in Long Island City
- Braved rain Saturday and boiling heat Sunday hoping to get an application
- Tests and interviews are still necessary to get into five-year program
Clemence Michallon For Dailymail.com
Hundreds of young people slept outside this weekend in Queens hoping to get a chance at a plumbing job.
The Plumbers Union apprenticeship program handed out 1,000 applications on Monday on a first come, first serve basis. Many hopefuls didn’t want to risk not making the cap and started lining up well ahead of time.
‘I walked up, added every chair and three for every tent and came out to 1,226,’ Mauricio Cruz told CBS New York after showing up Sunday afternoon.
‘I know I’m after that. It’s insane. I don’t know if I’m gonna wait.’
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Hundreds of young people slept outside this weekend in Queens (pictured) hoping to get a chance of getting into the Plumbers Union apprenticeship program
The program handed out 1,000 applications on Monday on a first come, first serve basis. Many hopefuls didn’t want to risk not making the cap and started lining up well ahead of time (pictured)
The program’s management asked applicants not to set up their tents outside its training center in Long Island City in guidelines for this year’s recruiting event.
‘There is no reason to show up days in advance!’ the notice reads. ‘Unfortunately, in years past we have seen a line develop days ahead of the actual distribution of the applications at the training center.
‘There is no difference between having application #1 or application #1000. All applications are equal in the process.’
And the precious application materials only signal the beginning of the process. Aspiring plumbers still need to complete tests and interviews afterwards.
Only a fraction of them eventually joins the five-year apprenticeship program. Even so, hundreds of potential applicants braved the rain on Saturday and the suffocating heat of the city Sunday as they lined up outside.
The promised salary and benefits is what keeps them coming. Plumbers can hope to make $40 to $67 an hour, Anthony Sala told CBS New York.
The program distributed all 1,000 applications starting 8 am on Monday. Those who received the documents now have until September 1 to return them – and begin the rest of the recruiting process.
A notice from the program’s management asked aspiring applicants not to camp outside the training center in Long Island City (pictured) – but hundreds did it anyway
There is no difference between getting the first and the last application, a notice told potential applicants. But spots are in high demand and aspiring plumbers did not want to risk losing the chance to apply
