Carlos J. Rivera-Santiago, Esq.
Labor Relations Consultant
Carlos Rivera-Santiago is an excellent professional with more than 20 years of experience and vast knowledge in matters in the public & private sectors and government, criminal, and administrative procedures.
He has a bachelor's degree in Social Sciences with a concentration in Labor Relations from the University of Puerto Rico. At the beginning of his professional career (2000), Carlos worked as a Labor Relations Investigator in the Public Service Labor Relations Commission. His role in this agency was to attend investigations of unfair labor practices, collective agreements violations, collective bargaining, determinations of bargaining units, arbitration, and other matters in the workplace. During this period, he interacted directly with union leaders and the labor movement in Puerto Rico. Later, he obtained a Juris Doctor degree from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, obtaining his state license and admission to the practice of law and the First Circuit of Boston. Once in the legal profession, he worked in private practice for several years, handling civil and criminal matters in the island's courts.
Mr. Rivera Santiago returned to public service in 2009 to work on all labor and human resources issues in the Department of Housing and the Public Housing Administration. During this period, he was in charge of managing and negotiating the collective agreements in these agencies. Later in 2011, Rivera joined the Department of Justice, serving as Prosecutor, Juvenile Prosecutor, General Attorney for Juvenile Prosecutors, and Special Assistant to the Secretary of Justice. As part of his career, he handled criminal cases of minors, adults, and white-collar crimes and supervised prosecutors and attorneys.
In addition, he was a resource for the Puerto Rican Judicial Academy and the Puerto Rico Police Academy, training newly appointed Judges and Police Officers from 2017 to 2019.
In 2019 he became an Advisor to the Governor in La Fortaleza, advising on labor matters in the public and private sectors. He was appointed Secretary of Labor for the Department of Labor and Human Resources a year later. As Secretary, he had the great challenge of thousands of unemployment and PUA claims that were unattended due to the pandemic in Puerto Rico. His work managed to stabilize the operations of the Department of Labor, detect fraud, and grant pandemic aid to citizens. During this period, he also intervened to obtain the approval of the Collective Bargaining Agreement of the University of Puerto Rico and achieve an agreement in the negotiations of the docks between the Union ILA and the Ayala Colón Company, putting an end to this labor conflict that paralyzed international maritime cargo on the island.
After his time in the public service, Carlos returned to private practice and founded a legal firm specializing in Government Affairs and Labor, Criminal, Civil & Administration Law.