Iglesias Family
Foundation

1

He is an important figure in Puerto Rican history, especially labor history. Iglesias was instrumental in organizing Puerto Rican workers into unions, introducing collective bargaining, pushing for humane working conditions, cofounding PR’s first socialist party and more. His strategies—grassroots organizing, strikes, political lobbying and electoral representation—laid the groundwork for today’s labor protections and continue to inform best practices in worker advocacy. He was controversial in his time and is controversial now among some commentators. There’s much to learn and discuss in his actions and decisions. One cannot understand PR’s political and labor history without understanding his work and involvement.

2

His life and work offer a guide for action for people who care about the working classes and marginalized communities.  He combined unionization and electoral politics. As a senator in PR, he introduced a wide range of policy proposals, many of which are still unrealized. He was the first Resident Commissioner with a labor and socialist background, and the first affiliated with the working-class movement to hold that position. He brought a holistic approach to advocacy, linking workers’ rights with broader social justice issues, including public education, adequate housing, and racial equality. Today’s movements for social and economic justice (e.g., living-wage campaigns and anti-racism initiatives) can draw inspiration from his holistic approach.

3

His work is an inspiration for union organizing. Understanding SIP’s work can be a strong motivation for contemporary labor activists and leaders. By studying his tactics, visions, and writings, contemporary union members and labor educators can extract lessons on leadership, communication, and coalition-building. His two-volume autobiography provides first-hand insights into organizing under challenging political and economic conditions when unionizing workers was deeply unpopular. By affiliating Puerto Rican unions with the U.S. AFL and forging ties between island and mainland labor movements, Iglesias demonstrated the power of cross-border and transnational solidarity. In our globalized economy, his example reminds us that workers’ struggles are interconnected and collective action across regions remains vital. By studying his work, current union members and activists not only honor a pioneer in labor history, but also equip themselves with strategic and inspirational tools to advance labor and social justice in the twenty-first century.

4

He is a model of courageous and committed leadership. Despite a desperate need for courageous and thoughtful leaders in our turbulent times, there are few of them. The life and work of Iglesias offers a shining model of leadership. He believed in institutions. He believed (perhaps idealistically or even naively) in American values. He was attentive to power and power dynamics, and he exercised power. He took positions and defended them. He was an idealist and a pragmatist. He was an articulate, passionate and fearless advocate. He made compromises, some difficult, some perhaps that he later would regret. He demonstrated a capacity to collaborate with would-be opponents, and he continued in the struggle despite three assassination attempts. He gave inspiring speeches and did the hard work of drafting and lobbying for legislation. At a time when labor organizing could provoke imprisonment or violence, Iglesias remained steadfast. His moral courage and willingness to challenge powerful interests serve as an example for anyone advocating for systemic change today.

Interesting Facts

He organized his first labor action when he was 12 years old.

When he was 14 years old, he stowed away on a ship, not knowing exactly where it was going. It ended up in Cuba.

He was arrested and imprisoned several times because of his union organizing because at that time it was illegal to “conspire to raise the price of labor.” 

He served in the Puerto Rican Senate for four consecutive terms from 1917 - 1932. He won his first election in a close race based upon a recount.

He was twice elected Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1932 and 1936. 

In 1915, he co-founded the first version of the Socialist Party in Puerto Rico. 

He founded and edited three labor journals: Porvenir Social (1898-1900), Union Obrera (1903-1906) and Justicia (1914-1925).

He survived at least two assassination attempts. In the last one he was wounded while giving a campaign speech but insisted on completing the speech before going to the hospital. From his hospital bed he said: “I am never armed. So, I am an ideal target for an assassin.”  

He named his eight daughters Victoria (Victory), Libertad (Liberty), América (America), Fraternidad (Fraternity), Igualdad (Equality), Justicia (Justice), Paz (Peace), Luz (Light) which was the subject of a “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” cartoon. 

The American Federation of Labor President Samuel Gompers was a close colleague and friend.

In 1943, a liberty ship was named after him, the S.S. Santiago Iglesias. 

There are numerous monuments and institutions named after him in Puerto Rico, including several schools, a housing development, a baseball field and a park in San Juan. 

Due to his enjoyment of horseracing, there was an annual horse race in Puerto Rico named after him, the Clásico Santiago Iglesias Pantin.

In 1940, the Puerto Rican government declared Labor Day, the first Monday of September, “Santiago Iglesias Pantin Day.”

He died on December 5, 1939, from malaria which he contracted while in Mexico as an envoy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1898, he was nearly killed by an American bomb while in a San Juan jail during the Spanish-American war.

He brought his mother from Spain to live in the family house in San Juan where she lived until her death in 1914.

He knew three U.S. Presidents: McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

From at least 1902, he was an early and strong promoter of women’s membership in unions.

He was a named defendant in a famous legal case (“The Santiago Iglesias case”) regarding the legality of labor organizing. While he was convicted at trial, he won on appeal.

He and his colleague Samuel Gompers helped expose an illegal arms operation in which boxes of arms were labeled as “sewing machines.”

Workers organized a massive demonstration of grief for him at his funeral in Puerto Rico. Some 200,000 people were said to have filed past the casket and 50,000 are said to have gridlocked the streets of Old San Juan during his funeral.

He had three nicknames: “Don Chago” (“Don” is a title of honor and “Chago” is short for Santiago), “El Gallego” (the one from Galicia, Spain) and “Mr. Liberty.”

SIP convinced the American Federation of Labor (AFL) to designate a coffee made in Puerto Rico as the “official coffee of the AFL.”

Never too busy to help a friend, on his way to a meeting, he stopped to help sell copies of his friend’s publication on the street.