Jurisdictional disputes in the motion-picture Industry : hearings before a special subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first-session, pursuant to H. Res. 111 (1948)

MOTION-PICTURE JURISDICTIONAL DISPUTES 2385 Sorrell.'' So we stopped and I was introduced to him. I complimented ]iim on Avliat a nice job of picketing they were doing there and how well they had handled it, then went back up to strike headquarters. They asked me what I thought of it, and I said, "You are going to have to straighten those picket lines out or your strike is going to dissolve. For one thing you are going to have a lot of people in jail." I said, ''You are not doing anj^ picketing, you just have a group of mobs out there. My suggestion would be that you get hold of that fellow that is the picket captain out at Warner Bros., get him in here and let him appoint his lieutenants and teach thein all how to picket and get the picketing going on like that at all of the studios." Mr. Owt:xs. How long did you talk with Sorrell at that time? Mr. IloBixsox. Oh, that was just merely an introduction out there. Mr. OwEXS. That was 11 years ago. What did he look like? Mr. RoBixsox. Well, he had a busted nose, cauliflowered ears. I have seen pictui'es of him recently. He has probably put on 60 or 70 pounds since I saw him at that time. Mr. OwEx^s How tall a man was he then ? Mr. EoBixsox. How tall ? Mr. OwExs. Yes. Mr. RoBixsox. Oh, I imagine Herb must be about 5-10, 5-10 or 11, something like that, I think he told me he used to be a middleweight boxer at one time. That would put him in the category of around 160 or 65 pounds, although he weighed a little more than that then. He probably weighed 185. They sent right out and got Herb and bi'ought him in. I had quite a chat with him then. I told him that I had recommended to the strike committee that he be appointed as picket captain for the whole group of studios. They immediately appointed him to that job and authorized him to go ahead. Understand, I had no authority in it at all. All I did was give advice. Mr. Kearxs. Sort of like a coordinator? Mr. RoBix^sox". That is right, because I had held no official position with any union. I was just a member of the engineers. They had requested that I come in and act in an advisory capacity and that I did. They followed my advice and appointed Herb as the picket captain. Prior to that I "don't believe Herb had any official status in the painters' union at all. He was not on the strike committee. I believe that was his introduction to leadership in the union, so far as I know. Of course, I was not in the painters' union, but he was just a picket captain and a painter at Warner Bros., so far as I understand. Well, he appointed his own lieutenants for each studio and instructed them on how to conduct the picket lines, and so forth. It didn't take him long to get things well organized. In fact, about 4 or 5 clays later he and I made a round of all the studios to see hoAv the picket was progressing and it was very orderly. The boys hadn't gotten into trouble. They had a couple dozen of the boys pinched but it was for minor offenses that we were able to clear up. Mr. McCaxx. Could you give us some date on when this was? Mr. RoBixsox. Well, if you know the date of the time of the strike — understand, at that time there was so much confusion there — if you can trace the date of the strike, I can give you the time wdien the strike was called. 1 came into the picture 3 days after it started.