Interview with Irene Lanzinger

Irene Lanzinger grew up in Kelowna, B.C. She studied physics at the University of British Columbia and worked as a meteorologist before becoming a teacher. She taught in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Abbotsford, and Vancouver.

Irene's union activism with B.C. Teachers' Federation (BCTF) started with the teachers' 1993 strike. Fascinated with collective bargaining, she volunteered to be on her school's bargaining and status of women committees. She was president of the Vancouver Secondary Teachers' Association from 1997 to 2000.

Irene was the chief negotiator for the BCTF in the early 2000s. In 2002, the Liberal government imposed a three-year contract on teachers and stripped their contract of many provisions including class size, teacher workload, and specialist teacher ratios. Irene was one of the leaders of the resulting one-day protest and the development of a legislative response plan for the next time the government tried to impose legislation. This plan was activated during the BCTF's illegal ten-day strike in 2005. In the interview, Irene discusses the 2005 strike, which saw widespread support from the labour movement.

After the strike, Irene became BCTF president in 2007 and held that office for three years. After that, Irene was elected secretary-treasurer of the BC Federation of Labour in 2010, and then president in 2014. She was the first woman and first teacher to hold that position. In the interview, Irene discusses her views on leadership. She says that if we want women leaders and diversity in leadership we need to "make space" for people from different racial and ethnic and sexual orientation and gender backgrounds.

After leaving the BC Fed, she served on the boards of BC Hydro and Community Savings Credit Union.