President of the Austrian Union Federation in Washington, DC and New York

President Wolfgang Katzian (left) with Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh and Marcus Strohmeier (right) © ÖB Washington

The President of the Austrian Union Federation, Wolfgang Katzian, accompanied by the head if its international department, Marcus Strohmeier, visited Washington, DC and New York City for a series of talks and bilateral meetings from February 6-10, 2022. In Washington, DC, President Katzian was greeted by Ambassador Martin Weiss and held his first bilateral meeting with Liz Shuler, President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). The next day, February 8th, Katzian met with Gladys Cisneros, Director for International Labor Affairs, and Jennifer Harris, the National Security Council’s Senior Director for International Economics and Labor at The White House. The meeting was followed by a working lunch with Axel van Trotsenburg, Managing Director of the World Bank, and an afternoon of conversation with political and labor experts at the Austrian Embassy.

Wolfgang Katzian and Liz Shuler © ÖB Washington

The following morning, President Katzian met with U.S. Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh to discuss various topics of mutual interest, including the “Grand Resignation” and the future of labor and apprenticeship programs. After a transfer to New York City, where he was greeted by Ambassador Alexander Marschik, the Austrian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Katzian met with Chuck Hendricks, Director of UNITE HERE, a labor union representing some 300,000 working people across Canada and the United States. The following luncheon presented an opportunity to discuss current affairs with Florian Krammer, Professor of Vaccinology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, before meeting with Judge Helmut Tuerk, Vice-President at the United Nation’s International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Katzian’s busy day concluded with an evening meeting with Stuart Applebaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, accompanied by HeeWon Brindle-Khym (Director), and Alvin Ramnarain, local President.