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- line up stretches city block 1,500 seek 500 job applications By HENRY BURY, Staff Reporter About 1,500 people lined up outside the Canada Employment Centre on Dundas Street East this morning for a crack at a fulltime job at Northern Telecom. They waited in line-some from as early as midnight (one reportedly from 4 p.m. Sunday)-to be among the first 500 to pick up application forms for job openings at the giant telecommunications manufacturer when the employment offices opened at 8:15 a.m, today. Northern advertised locally last week that 500 applications would be distributed today at the manpower offices on a first-come, firstserved basis. The company is seeking to hire new hourly employees due to an increase in production of its products. In addition to the 500 applications, each Northern employee also received an application form last week to distribute to "potential employees". Some applications were reportedly being sold for upwards of $100. The line-up, four and five people abreast, stretched from the front door of the employment centre, along Bleecker Avenue from Dundas Street to Bridge Street. City police closed Bleecker Avenue from Dundas to Bridge Street during the morning rush hour because of the traffic. Five police officers were on duty to help direct traffic and keep an eye on the crowd of 1,500. No problems were reported. Steve Bone, 28 and unemployed, started his vigil at the employment centre's front doors shortly after midnight. "1 came here that early so that I could get a job. I've been looking for over a year and I wanted to beat the crowd so that at least I could get an application,/ Bone said. Bill Chamberlain joined the line-up at 2 a.m. "I'm here because I want an application. I'm desperately looking for a job," said the unemployed man, who stood up all night and listened to his radio. Linda Townsend had two hours of sleep before joining the job-seekers at 3 a.m. "I've been trying to get into Northern for a year and I figure this is one of the best ways of doing it," she said. The three were among the first handful of people to be allowed in by employment centre officials when doors opened at 8:15 a.m. Groups of 20 people were let in at a time and it took slightly more than an hour before all 500 applications were picked up. They now have until March 9 to complete and return their applications to the employment centre. Bob Adams, employment centre manager, said he expected a large crowd for the 500 applications, "but I'm somewhat surprised by the total number.. .1 haven't seen a line-up like that before." Adams said his office only served as a distribution point for Northern's 500 applications. "The way it was approached was a fairly novel technique...A lot of people are out looking for work and it's a good effort on part of the company to make the public know that there are jobs available," the manager said. Adams credited city police with helping to control the crowd and keep traffic moving. "Unfortunately, people were disappointed that they didn't get an application," Adams said. One who waited and didn't get an application form was Vickie Hebert. "There were women with kids who couldn't even get a babysitter. It was unreal. Even if they'd given everyone an application and only accepted the first 500 that came back," said Hebert, who joined the line-up around 7 a.m. Officials from Northern were unavailable to comment on the number of job openings that are available and how soon the applicants will know about the jobs.