The Professional Insurance Agents of New York State said they have given the group's PIANY Presidential Citation to a union official for his work uniting business and labor interests to craft the state's new workers' compensation law.
The award was given to Arthur Wilcox, director for the public employee division of the New York State AFL-CIO, by PIANY immediate past-president David Dickson on Tuesday at the association's annual business meeting.
Mr. Dickson told National Underwriter that Mr. Wilcox received the citation because of his vast knowledge of the workers' comp system in New York and his work with the association and others in hammering out a white paper mapping out reforms that were eventually adopted by the state in March.
"It was an easy decision on my part to recognize his efforts," said Mr. Dickson.
Mr. Dickson said that Mr. Wilcox helped to bring the parties together despite sharp differences labor has expressed over workers' comp reform in the past.
Among the reforms are increases in benefits, setting a timetable that maxes out the number of years an individual can collect under the system, and strong anti-fraud measures. There are also measures aimed at returning injured employees to work faster.
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