The California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) announced the unanimous election of Commissioner Angie Wei as the Chair of the Commission for 2014. Ms. Wei, appointed by the Senate Rules Committee to represent labor, is the legislative director of the California Labor Federation, the state AFL-CIO Federation. Previously Ms. Wei was a program associate for PolicyLine of Oakland, California, and advocated for the California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative, a coalition of four immigrant rights groups that came together to respond to cuts in public benefits for immigrants as a result of the 1996 federal welfare reform law.

Angie was also one of the architects of SB 863. She negotiated provisions of the new law jointly with employer representatives.

CHSWC, created by the workers’ compensation reform legislation of 1993, is charged with examining the health and safety and workers’ compensation systems in California and recommending administrative or legislative modifications to improve their operation. CHSWC was established to conduct a continuing examination of the workers’ compensation system and of the state’s activities to prevent industrial injuries and occupational diseases and to examine those programs in other states.