First woman
elected to lead B.C.
labour federation
VANCOUVER, B.C. — Irene
Lanzinger was elected the first woman
to lead the British Columbia Federation
of Labour. She succeeds Jim Sinclair,
who did not seek re-election after serv-
ing 15 years as the president.
The BC Federation of Labour repre-
sents over 500,000 members from affil-
iated unions across the province.
Lanzinger defeated Amber Hockin
in an election held Nov. 28 during the
56th Convention of the BC Federation
of Labour. More than 2,000 delegates
from across British Columbia attended.
Lanzinger, a former teacher and past
president of the Vancouver Teachers
Association and BC Teachers Federa-
tion, has been the BC Federation of
Labour’s secretary-treasurer for the last
four years.
“I think it says it’s about time for a
woman, right, you know partly that’s
coincidence,” Lanzinger told Canadian
Press. “There wasn’t a man out there
who put his name forward, but partly
it’s that women are taking their rightful
place as leaders in the labour move-
ment.”
Lanzinger said raising British Co-
lumbia’s minimum wage to $15 per
hour is her top goal. B.C.’s current min-
imum wage is $10.25 per hour.
DECEMBER 5, 2014
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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