Tireless Organizer Hernandez Recognized for Always Going Above and Beyond

By Jeremy Kehoe

Local 11 District 1 Organizer Jorge Hernandez admits the moment he heard his name called out across a roomful of union Brothers and Sisters in Alaska it, “felt kind of surreal.”

That’s the moment he learned from IBEW 9th District International Vice President Dave Reaves that he had earned IBEW International’s prestigious Above & Beyond Award for his relentless organizing work.

Hernandez says he’s “never been a 7:30 to 4:30” member since joining Local 11 13 years ago after a 14-year stint as a non-union electrician, and his goal has, “always been to do my part to leave the union better than when I joined it.”

Since 2012, Hernandez’s Local 11 career has been filled with volunteering, organizing, and supporting groups from the Electrical Workers Minority Caucus to Reach out and Engage Next-Gen Electrical Workers (RENEW), whose mission is to inspire the next generation of IBEW workers to become active members.

“Anything that needed people to be there, I was out there getting involved, because it’s all about paying it forward,” Hernandez said. “I still get calls from people I helped organize back in 2017 who tell me, ‘Thank you for changing my life. Thank you for helping give me the opportunity to buy my kids braces and put my daughter through college.’ Those are the calls that make it all worthwhile.”

“Jorge has always been someone who’s done anything he could to support the union, and he’s done it because it’s the right thing to do as a union member,” said Local 11 President Alton Wilkerson. “Sometimes you see someone who doesn’t realize that they’re going above and beyond, but they are, so it’s gratifying to see someone like Jorge get recognized and rewarded for his actions.”

A Groundbreaking Salting First

Hernandez’s indefatigable combination of organizing persistence and union conviction was on front-and-center display this year when he took the lead in Local 11’s groundbreaking salting campaign with Sema Electric.

Hernandez started by simply doing what he’s always done: showing up. He talked with Sema employees as they left work, then connected with the on-site foreman, and then worked his way up to speaking with Sema Electric’s owner, Sean Delahanty (which required some independent sleuthing to secure his contact information). Once he got in that door he explained the benefits of union labor and the quality of craftsmanship Local 11 could add to their already thriving company.

“The name of the game is just communicating with people and building that relationship,” Hernandez said. “(Delahanty) had a lot of questions, and every time he had a question I had an answer. And if I didn’t have an answer I went back to our team and got an answer and called him right back. And if he called on a Saturday night with a question, I answered the phone.”

As a result, for the first time in its history Local 11 signed up a signatory contractor as a direct result of salting efforts led by Hernandez and team members including Javier Vega, Donte Lang, Cristhian Garcia, Ricky Davis, G Love, Shawn Hinds, Ray Haro, Jorge Castillo, and Brian Powell. 

The key to this successful salting campaign, Hernandez said, was honest, open, and responsive communications and leaning into the organizing experience and experience of Local 11 Contractor Organizer Ben Frank and Wilkerson.

“That level of service we were able to give Sema was one of the reasons they signed with us,” Hernandez said. “(Delahanty) said our ability to answer their questions, answer his calls no matter what time he called, and give them the guidance they needed was what made him feel comfortable signing a full signature program.”

Following in a Legend’s Footsteps

Not lost on Hernandez is the humbling and motivating reality that he is following in the footsteps of legendary Local 11 organizer Oscar Martinez, his mentor and fellow Above and Beyond recipient.

“It’s an honor to be included in the same category as someone like Oscar, who was a role model for me – someone I idolized,” Hernandez said. “If I end up being half as good as Oscar, I’ll be happy. To be included in the same sentence as him is an honor.”

Despite the new recognition and accolades, Hernandez says his go-to mode will continue to be rooted in advocating the value of union membership and advancing its bedrock principles of unity, solidarity, and equality to keep creating opportunities for everyone.

“I don’t feel like I’m going above and beyond,” he said. “I’m just doing what I need to do to educate people and give them information they need so they have an opportunity to have a better life and get what they’re worth – what they deserve. There are a lot of people out there who don’t know what unions are about and think what they’re getting is enough, and it’s not. I’m just about helping people out and giving them the right information.”

“Members like Jorge do what they do to give back to his union and keep this union progressing and moving forward because this union has changed a lot of our lives,” Wilkerson said. “It’s about putting back into this union what this union’s given to us, and that’s why Jorge does what he does.”