Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Abe Cohen had been in the auto repair business? Mr. PEARL. He was a former competitor. Mr. KENNEDY. Now, Mr. Al Cohen came to you and suggested that you go to work for him? Mr. KENNEDY. What did he tell you you would be doing, what were your responsibilities? Mr. PEARL. At the time just to supervise the automobile radiator repair shops which they were interested in having in the union. Mr. KENNEDY. Originally he offered you $100 a week, and you told him that that wasn't enough, and ultimately he came back and offered you $100 a week plus $25 expenses? Mr. PEARL. That is right. Mr. KENNEDY. And you agreed to take the job? Mr. PEARL. That is right. In January of 1957. Mr. KENNEDY. Did he also tell you at the same time that he would like to have you president of another local? Mr. PEARL. Yes, he did, sir. Mr. KENNEDY. You were going to work for 433 and did he say he would like to make you president of 531? Mr. PEARL. That is right. Mr. KENNEDY. Did you agree to be president? Mr. PEARL. Not at first, but eventually I did. Mr. KENNEDY. Eventually you did? Mr. PEARL. Yes, sir. Mr. KENNEDY. You discussed it with your wife, and then she said she thought it would be a good idea? Mr. PEARL. On the contrary, she didn't like the idea, but she was vetoed by myself and I decided to go ahead. Mr. KENNEDY. What was 531? What were they going to do? Mr. KENNEDY. In the latter part of October, of 1956, and this is again about the same time you were having these negotiations, there was a meeting called at the restaurant called the Living Room Restaurant, on Second Avenue, in New York City? Mr. PEARL. That is right. Mr. KENNEDY. That was a meeting for the most part of jukebox operators; is that right? Mr. PEARL. That is correct. Mr. KENNEDY. And Mr. Cohen addressed the group, and at that time he told them that if they were dissatisfied with local 1690, he was going to be able to establish a setup that would offer more protection to the operators? Mr. PEARL. Yes, sir; that is correct. Mr. KENNEDY. And that if they signed with his union, that he would be able, through his connections, to prevent the delivery of beer and other supplies to the various locations? Mr. PEARL. That is right, sir. Mr. KENNEDY. The union was going to be established with the help and the assistance of the operators; is that right? Mr. PEARL. Yes, sir. Mr. KENNEDY. There was no discussion about the employees, how this was going to help the employees? Mr. PEARL. None that I recall. Mr. KENNEDY. And it was all as to establishing the union to help the operators and help them keep their locations? Mr. PEARL. That is correct. Mr. KENNEDY. At that meeting of the operators, you were nominated as president; is that right? Mr. PEARL. Yes, sir; I was. Mr. KENNEDY. Ánd you were elected; is that right? Mr. PEARL. Yes. Mr. KENNEDY. So you were elected. Cohen took over the position of business manager of the local and you were the president? Mr. PEARL. I was the president in name only, and this meeting took place in October of 1956. My duties with this particular local did not commence until the end of February of 1957. I then turned my resignation in on April 1 of that same year. Mr. KENNEDY. Who was secretary-treasurer? Mr. KENNEDY. Did you know Giovanelli ? Mr. PEARL. I might have met him at that meeting, but I did not know him prior or did not see him afterwards. The CHAIRMAN. Would you recognize a photograph of him? Mr. PEARL. I may, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Í hand you a photograph that bears New York City police No. 316100, then another number of 12956. I will ask you to examine it and state if you can identify the person in the photograph. (The photograph was handed to the witness.) Mr. KENNEDY. That is Giovanelli. Mr. PEARL. I do believe that he was present at the meeting that was held at the Living Room Club. The CHAIRMAN. You think he was present at that meeting. Do you think you recognize him as one of those who were present? Mr. PEARL. Pardon me, sir. I didn't hear you. The CHAIRMAN. I say, do you think you recognize the picture as a photograph of someone who was present at that organizational meeting? Mr. PEARL. Yes, I do believe he was present. The CHAIRMAN. That may be made exhibit No. 20. (Photograph referred to was marked "Exhibit No. 20" for reference and may be found in the files of the Select Committee.) The CHAIRMAN. Is this the man who became secretary-treasurer of your union? Mr. PEARL. I don't recall, sir. The CHAIRMAN. You honestly don't know about that? Mr. PEARL. No, I don't. The CHAIRMAN. But you think he was present? Mr. PEARL. I do believe he was present. Mr. KENNEDY. October 26, 1957, the minutes of that meeting show, among other things, that Fred Giovanelli was nominated and seconded for financial secretary-treasurer and recorded. This man was made financial secretary of this union, or do you know? Mr. PEARL. I don't know. Mr. KENNEDY. He has been arrested four times, burglary, assault and robbery, assault and robbery with gun, and he was convicted only of simple assault in 1954. You were elected in October of 1956. When did you find out where the headquarters were? Mr. PEARL. I would say in February of 1957. Mr. KENNEDY. That was about the time that Mr. Cohen's brother returned and he wanted to release you as an employee of local 433 and put his brother in as organizer? Mr. PEARL. That is correct. That is right. Mr. KENNEDY. So he said that he would arrange to have you placed on the payroll of 531; is that right? Mr. PEARL. That is correct. Mr. KENNEDY. When you were president of 531 you weren't drawing any salary? Mr. PEARL. No, I was not drawing any salary and I had no duties. Mr. KENNEDY. So he put you in in 433 and in 531. In 531 you were president. When his brother came back about a month after this occurred, he put his brother in to replace you in 433 and started paying you a salary from 531; is that right? Mr. PEARL. That is correct. Mr. KENNEDY. What were your duties? What were you supposed to be doing for 531 or for 433? Mr. PEARL. Organizational duties, primarily. Mr. KENNEDY. Did you go around to the various taverns? Mr. PEARL. Not for 433; only for local 531. Mr. KENNEDY. What would you do? Mr. PEARL. I would go with a picket. Mr. KENNEDY. Who was the picket? ! Mr. PEARL. Well, it varied on occasions, but Sonny Parker was a picket. Mr. KENNEDY. Sonny Parker? Mr. PEARL. Yes. Mr. KENNEDY. Was he the one that you traveled with the most? Mr. PEARL. On most occasions I would say. Mr. KENNEDY. So you and the picket would go around. What would you do then? Mr. PEARL. We would take the yellow pages and frequent taverns and I would go into the tavern, introduce myself to the owner, and request that we enlisted his cooperation as respects the jukebox on the premises, asking him to please pull the plug. Mr. KENNEDY. To pull the plug? Mr. PEARL. Yes, and informing him that the jukebox was not—or the operator of the jukebox was not a member of local 531, and would he please have the operator contact the local offices, local 531 offices. Mr. KENNEDY. Did you ever talk to an employee? Mr. PEARL. Perhaps on an occasion, if the owner was not present at the time I visited the bar. Mr. KENNEDY. Did you ever talk to the man who serviced Mr. PEARL. An employee, do you mean, of the Mr. KENNEDY. The man who serviced the machines. Mr. PEARL. I don't believe so. Mr. KENNEDY. The fellow that you were trying to get into the union; did you ever actually talk to him? Mr. PEARL. No, sir. Mr. KENNEDY. This is the procedure you were told to follow? Mr. KENNEDY. Ask him to pull the plug from the machine and turn it to the wall and put another machine in? Mr. PEARL. I don't believe I asked him to turn it to the wall. I had a prepared speech that was given to me by Mr. Cohen and it didn't include, I don't believe, telling him to turn the machine to the wall. The CHAIRMAN. As I understood, what you did was you got him to pull the plug so that the machine wouldn't operate. Mr. PEARL. That is what I requested of the owner. The CHAIRMAN. You requested that and told him to have the operator, the one who had put the machine in there, get in touch with your local? Mr. PEARL. Well, with the local, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Your local, the one that you were representing. Isn't that correct? Mr. PEARL. In a sense; yes. The CHAIRMAN. In a sense? Mr. PEARL. Well, I considered myself The CHAIRMAN. That is what you were doing at the time, presumably, and what you thought you were doing, working for that local, to get members. Mr. PEARL. I thought of myself as an employee; that is correct. The CHAIRMAN. The way you were getting members was to get the location owner to pull the plug and have the operator get in touch with your local. Mr. PEARL. That is correct. The CHAIRMAN. Then the pressure was put on, of course, to join your local. Mr. PEARL. Not by me, sir. The CHAIRMAN. I know not by you. You were performing your job to get him in contact. Mr. PEARL. That is correct. The CHAIRMAN. All right. Mr. KENNEDY. If your request was refused, if they refused to pull the plug, what would you do then, generally? Mr. PEARL. The picket was usually placed outside the location. Mr. PEARL. That is right. The CHAIRMAN. Did he carry a sign already prepared? Mr. PEARL. Yes, he did, sir. Mr. KENNEDY. You made no effort to sign up any of the employees? Mr. PEARL. I did not. Mr. KENNEDY. Do you know if anyone ever joined the union through your efforts? Mr. PEARL. I don't know whether they joined through my efforts, but I do believe there were people that joined. Mr. KENNEDY. Do you know that? Mr. PEARL. I presumed it. I would state that I know of two people, I believe. I mentioned previously how I know it, by virtue of being given these cards, these membership cards which I presumed them to be. Mr. KENNEDY. Was that a membership card, an application card, or what? Mr. PEARL. It was either membership or application. I do not know at this time. Mr. KENNEDY. So you don't know, really, if anyone joined the union? Mr. PEARL. It would just be a presumption on my part. Mr. KENNEDY. As president of the union, did you ever meet any of the members of the union? Mr. PEARL. Well, only. I would say, at the time of the inception of the union, which was in October. Mr. KENNEDY. Which was at the meeting? Mr. PEARL. At the meeting; yes. Mr. KENNEDY. Beyond that, after you were made president, did you ever meet any of the members of the union? Mr. PEARL. Not to my knowledge. Mr. KENNEDY. Did you ever see a membership book? Mr. PEARL. No; I did not, sir. Mr. KENNEDY. Did you ever see a collective bargaining agreement? Mr. PEARL. I did not, sir. Mr. KENNEDY. Did you ever see a membership list? Mr. PEARL. No, sir; I did not. Mr. KENNEDY. Do you know if they had a bank account? Mr. PEARL. I do not know. Mr. KENNEDY. Who paid you? Where did the money come from? Mr. PEARL. Mr. Cohen paid me from his private checking account. Mr. KENNEDY. What was local 531? Who was 531? Mr. PEARL. Mr. Cohen. Mr. KENNEDY. He was 531? Mr. PEARL. Well, to me he was. Mr. KENNEDY. If somebody came to you and wanted to join the union, what would you do? Mr. PEARL. I would send them to Mr. Cohen. Mr. KENNEDY. Did you know how to get them in the union yourself? Mr. PEARL. No; I did not, sir. Mr. KENNEDY. You resigned from local 531 in April of 1957? Mr. PEARL. April 1, 1957. Mr. KENNEDY. So you stayed only a few short months? Mr. PEARL. A few short weeks. Mr. KENNEDY. Well, from October Mr. PEARL. I am sorry. Well, actively a few short weeks; inactively, a few short months. it? Mr. KENNEDY. I think the whole thing sounds a little brief, doesn't Mr. PEARL. On my part I hope so. Mr. KENNEDY. Were you an applicant for the charter of 531? Mr. PEARL. No; I was not. Mr. KENNEDY. Your name appears on it. Did you know that? Mr. KENNEDY. The first meeting you held, the organizational meeting, was there ever any meeting after that? |