By Tessa Stuart
At the corner of Houston and Hudson, six blocks from the Soho bakery where ladies in expensive sandals queued up before the crack of dawnall summer to taste the Cronut, a different kind of line was forming. At first it was just a couple of burly men planted in lawn chairs outside the New York City District Council of Carpenters. A week later more than 1,000 others—security guards, welders, construction workers, and baby-faced kids fresh out of high school—had pitched tents and unfurled sleeping bags next to them. A passerby surveyed the crowd and guessed it was some sort of mixed martial arts ticket giveaway.
It wasn't.
Welcome to post-recession New York, where a middle-class job is a lottery prize and folks will camp out on the street just for a chance to play.
The carpenters union apprenticeship lottery only comes around once every few years. Anyone can submit his or her name. You just have to show up, fill out a card, and drop it in a box.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
The Carpenters Union Lottery Offers a Shot at the Middle Class
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
NYC Carpenters Union Handing Out Hundreds Of Applications To Job Hopefuls
NEW YORK (CBS NewYork) –The wait is over for hundreds of carpenters who have been camped out for days in hopes of scoring a coveted apprenticeship with New York City’s carpenters union.
Monday morning, the District Council of Carpenters Union began handing out 750 applications. With that comes the chance for union card and the promise of better benefits and a heftier paycheck.
Nicholas Foreman was the first person in line.
“The pot of gold at the end of that rainbow is getting that interview,” he said.
Foreman has been camping on the sidewalk since last Monday through rainy days and chilly nights with no bed, no shower and no electricity.
“A lot of people are going to come for it because this is a very good job,” he said.
The union holds this application process once every two years. Of the applications that will be given out, 500 will be for carpenters. The remaining 250 will be for dock builders and floor installers.
Those who get jobs will earn $20 an hour to start with the possibility of earning as much as $99 an hour down the line.
But the competition is fierce. The line stretched two full city blocks with the hundreds hoping for their chance at a break.
Margaret Power works at the top of One World Trade Center.
“My son is waiting to get in,” she told WCBS 880′s Alex Silverman early Monday morning. “He’ll be a fourth-generation carpenter.”
“The things that they have coming up in the next few, a lot of money to be made,” one man told Silverman.
“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Bodhi O’Neil from Copaigue.
But getting in the door doesn’t guarantee a job. It only guarantees a spot in the lottery. Union officials said they pull names of individuals from a locked lottery box as the industry needs more apprentices.
“We run a state approved lottery and all of these individuals will put their names in a locked box with their names and addresses. As the industry needs more apprentices we pull from that box in a lottery it’s a blind pull,” NYC District Council of Carpenters Director Elly Spicer told CBS 2′s Kathryn Brown.
Those who have been waiting for days say it’s a chance worth taking.
“I’ve never slept on the streets of New York City, I thought it was beneath me. Well, irony is that I’m willing to do it just for the opportunity of possibly getting a job that can change my life,” Bernard James told Silverman. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Union leaders said they typically pull names from the locked lottery box once every two months.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Would-Be Workers Set For Days Camping Out For Carpenters’ Training Program
Job seekers camp out for a training program at the Carpenters’ Union
About 750 applications will be distributed starting at 9 a.m. Monday.
The union holds this open application process only once every two years.
Applicants have been arriving from throughout the tri-state area and from as far away as Pennsylvania, waiting outside the headquarters of the carpenters union in the West Village.
Some arrived as early as Monday, and they have continued to line up throughout the week.
"It's tough, no showers, you're sitting here all day, walking around." said the first person on line. "But you know what, the end result is the pot of gold, which is to get my name on that ticket so I can get called for an interview, and to really show the dedication, because I've been here all week."
They're hoping for a career: a steady job with good pay and good benefits.
Of the 750 applications available, there are 500 for carpenters, 150 for dock builders and 100 for floor coverers.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Carpenters Recruit Apprentices
New York, NY (November 10, 2010) - The New York City District Council of Carpenters Apprenticeship and Training Committee will conduct a recruitment from November 15, 2010 through November 30, 2010 for 20 openings for each of these trades: linoleum, resilient, tile and carpet layer; carpenter (pile driver/dockbuilder); cabinetmaker; and millwright apprentices, State Labor Commissioner Colleen C. Gardner announced today.
To obtain an application, individuals must complete an apprenticeship application lottery card with their name and address. Apprenticeship application lottery cards will be available Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the New York City District Council of Carpenters JATC - Labor Technical College at 395 Hudson Street, New York, NY, excluding legal holidays, during the recruitment period.
Two hundred (200) application cards will be available for each of the four trades listed above.
Applicants will be notified by mail if their apprenticeship application lottery card is selected. These individuals will be required to attend a one-hour orientation where they will be provided with an apprenticeship application form and be scheduled for an interview.
