At Work

Accomplishments

Santiago Iglesias Pantín dedicated his entire life to social justice, and in particular, to improving the welfare of working people and their families in Puerto Rico (PR). He was both idealistic and pragmatic. He believed that organizing workers through labor unions and participation in government were both essential. 

Iglesias held elected offices in both PR and in the federal government

Iglesias served as a member of the first Senate of PR in 1917, representing the Socialist Party. He was reelected several times, serving from 1917 until his election to Congress in 1932. 

Iglesias authored substantial important legislation in favor of workers, including the Workers' Compensation Law Act. He co-authored the bill that created the PR Department of Labor in 1931.

He advocated for many social reforms, such as union organizing and labor action rights, old age and survivor pensions, housing reforms, and health and sanitation improvements. Many of these demands became law, during his service in PR’s Senate, during his time as PR’s Resident Commissioner, as part of the Socialist party’s reform agenda in the 1940s, or as part of the Constitution of PR in 1952.

In 1917, he worked closely with Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), to amend the proposed Jones bill to remove some of its oppressive elements, e.g. restrictive voting provisions on the people of PR.

Iglesias was elected to represent PR in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1933 to 1939 as a Coalitionist. During his time in Congress, he served on three committees: Insular Affairs, Agriculture, and Labor.

As PR’s Resident Commissioner in Congress, he successfully worked to have PR included in many New Deal assistance programs, including road construction, the Bankhead-Jones Act that enabled agricultural experimentation and the fight against malaria. He fought to exclude PR from the Jones Act which imposes costly restrictions and taxes on shipping between PR and other U.S. ports.

Iglesias introduced numerous bills to improve PR's political and economic life, including both industrial and agricultural sectors. He was an active legislator in every session of Congress. For example, in the six month long Congressional session of 1934 alone, he submitted 12 bills or joint resolutions. These measures concerned federal relief for PR, proposals to increase PR’s self-governance, relief for Puerto Ricans from certain taxes, the application of certain federal laws and programs to PR and a bill to admit PR as a state into the union. In 1936, Iglesias reported on the status of the Federation of Labor of PR, sought federal support for wildlife and agricultural protection in PR, and pushed for the extension to PR of the Wagner-Peyser Act, which creates a federal system of public employment offices.

Iglesias created and led political/social organizations and projects

Iglesias is one of the primary founders of labor union movement in PR.  He was a strong promoter of women’s participation in labor unions, at a time when women were largely excluded.

He was a cofounder of the first Socialist party in PR, which was based on democratic socialist principles. (It should be noted that this party no longer exists and is not related to the current Socialist party in PR). He believed in the value and power of education, promoting universal public education and as the founder and editor of three labor papers. The first, Porvenir Social (from 1898 to 1900) he created on October 23, 1898, five days after Americans took possession of San Juan in the Spanish-American war. Upon his return to PR after living in New York, he founded Union Obrera, a newspaper promoting labor union organizing in PR published from 1903 to 1906. And from 1914 to 1925, he edited the weekly magazine Justicia.

In November of 1918, he helped found the Pan American Federation of Labor (PAFL), an international trade union organization associated with the AFL. Starting in 1925, he served as PAFL’s Secretary.

Iglesias labored for both short-term objectives and long-term goals. The results of his work can be seen in the successes during his lifetime, as well as goals achieved long after his death. For example, during his life he successfully eliminated private profit from PR’s workers compensation and state insurance fund programs. In collaboration with others, he sought to ensure enforcement of the 500 Acre Law (which limited corporations to owning a maximum of 500 acres to prevent domination of PR’s agricultural section by large economic interests), but this only occurred after his death. His advocacy for an eight-hour work day, establishing a minimum wage, and banning child labor became universally accepted. Labor rights that he advocated were finally included in the 1952 Constitution of the Commonwealth of PR. Some of his long-term goals have yet to be achieved, e.g. statehood for PR with equal opportunities as other States. However, his lifetime of commitment to social justice in PR continues to inspire the next generation to continue his work on behalf of the working people and families of PR.