Leadership Profile: Local R14-22 President Charlie Hernandez
"I didn't get into this for myself," explained Local R14-22 President Charlie Hernandez from Fort Bliss, Texas. "Someday I hope one of my children runs into someone whom I have helped through the union and the work that I have done has helped lead that person to a successful life, and that person says to my kid, 'I know your father, he really helped me.' That would make me so proud."
President Hernandez, a member of the NAGE Federal Advisory Board, has been an active union officer since 1989 and local president since 1990, with a brief respite when he was transferred to the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso following the elimination of his job as a heavy equipment mechanic at Fort Bliss in the mid 1990s. "I even tried to get employees there to join NAGE," laughed Hernandez.
When the first opportunity presented itself and the mission of Fort Bliss changed again, Hernandez requested a transfer back to Fort Bliss. "I am not a veteran myself and I feel working here is the best way to serve my country while helping fellow employees at the same time. I am very proud both to work for the U.S. Army and to serve as union president."
The mission of Fort Bliss, established in 1849 and one of the DoD's flagship installations nearly the size of the state of Rhode Island, has changed considerably since President Hernandez embarked on his civilian Army career. In 2001, Fort Bliss began providing battalions for U.S. and NATO efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Today Fort Bliss's mission has grown. Some of its responsibilities include providing anti-aircraft and missile defense capabilities; conducting live fire exercises of nearly every type of Army weapon; and hosting joint military exercises for and with other U.S. and foreign units. It continues to grow and is one of the Army's premier bases. DoD officials estimate that 35,000 active duty troops will be stationed at Fort Bliss by 2011.
"The biggest change I have seen," lamented President Hernandez, "Is that there continues to be fewer and fewer federal employees and more and more contractors on the base. I do not believe this best serves our mission."
President Hernandez's highlight of his long tenure as local president occurred in the early 1990s when the local union filed nearly 175 unfair labor practice charges against base management, until finally people from Washington were sent to the base to unravel the problem, concluding that management needed to respect the local union's right to represent employees. "There are so many individual cases where we have helped people over the years that it wouldn't be fair to say one was more important than the other," the president said.
President Hernandez became involved with the union when he went to the union and didn't get answers he liked. "I began to research and read everything I could find," he explained, "and I was able to win my case. So, I thought if I could do this for myself, I could do it for other people too." After serving a short stint as a shop steward, President Hernandez won election to the local presidency in 1990. "I never could have accomplished the things we have without the work and support of my good friend and former colleague Joe Saavedra.
"NAGE has always been the union for me," he said. "The organization provides training for local officers and presidents, organizes events for us to get together and share our problems, and supports us with representatives and attorneys when we call.
"Recently, I was at a national meeting where I met a local president from the Navy Public Works Center in San Diego and talking together we realized even though he was Navy and I was Army, we share many of the same challenges."
Married to Carmen, the father of four, with one grandchild and expecting another soon, President Hernandez enjoys reading, listening to music from the '60s and '70s, fishing and the outdoors. "The truth is you would be surprised what new things you can learn from other people when you listen."