He was broadly identified with the policies of José Batlle y Ordóñez, but was regarded as not being strongly ideological, and thus able to work with others in the party with more polarized standpoints.

During Batlle’s second presidency, while serving as Minister of Finance, as noted by one study, “Among the questions which engaged his attention were the further improvement of the customs system, the revision of the real estate tax law, and the raising of funds for live-stock expositions, scholarships for students of agriculture, and the purchase of buildings for the legations of Uruguay in Argentina and Brazil.”[4] Serrato also served as Minister of the Department of Promotion during Batlle’s first presidency, during which time he promoted various improvements such as the erection of important public edifices, the building of highways, the sanitation of several cities including the port of Montevideo, the electrification of street railway systems, and the building of railways.

[7] A decree of March 1924 entitled, as noted by one study, “all employees of the police force and of the corps of firemen and detachments of firemen who have become incapacitated for further service from disability incident to their duties to a pension equal to two-thirds of their full active pay, available from the beginning of their incapacity incident to the service.” Provision was also made for dependents of those who had passed away.

[9] In 1925, a minimum wage for public employees was sanctioned[10] and a special social security system for political staff was introduced.

In addition, a special lifetime pension was introduced in 1926 for all working women in commerce and industry who wished to leave their occupations to raise their children.