Workers Compensation Law

This Thursday, September 1st, marks the 100th anniversary of the nation’s first constitutional workers compensation law, and it’s also the subject of Route 51 this week. We’ll discuss the centennial event, and the ways in which workers compensation changed America’s labor force, with a panel of experts: John H. Jones, retired senior vice president of Wausau Insurance and founding board member of the Workers Compensation Research Institute; Ron Kent, retired AFSCME International education representative; and Andrew Kersten, professor of history, UW-Green Bay. Dubbed “The Great Compromise,” the Wisconsin idea of workers compensation was a dramatic recognition of society’s responsibility to the workplace, and was the first form of social insurance in American history.