TWCC Chairman Awarded

October 21, 2002

The Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission (TWCC) announced that Chairman Rebecca Olivares was awarded the Samuel Gompers Award by the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC) at their annual convention held recently in Detroit. Olivares was presented the award “In Recognition of Your Outstanding Efforts ‘In improving the working conditions of the masses.’ Samuel Gompers, 1916”.

Samuel Gompers was the first and longest-serving president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Gompers was born in London in 1850 to poor immigrant Jews from Holland. His family immigrated to New York during the Civil War in 1863. He became employed as a cigar maker and an active member of the Cigarmakers’ Union. After a failed strike of the Cigarmakers’ Union, Gompers and the union members reorganized and used dues to establish a benefits program for sickness, accident, unemployment and death payments. In 1886 he helped form the AFL and served as president from 1886-1924 (except in 1895).

Olivares was appointed TWCC Chairman in February 2001. She is currently president of the International Workers’ Compensation Foundation (IWCF), immediate past president of the Southern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators (SAWCA), and president of the Western Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards (WAWCB). She has served and currently serves on the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions Executive Committee. Olivares currently works for the San Antonio’s Children’s Museum.

Topics Workers' Compensation

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