Bob Mackin
The executive board of the union that represents 3,500 City of Vancouver inside workers has been fired and placed under a staff administrator.
CUPE Local 15 members received an afternoon memo on March 25, announcing that Kevin Rose would oversee operations after the elected board put the union’s wellbeing at risk.
Fired: CUPE Local 15 president Warren Williams (B.C. Labour Heritage Centre).
“In recent months we’ve seen increasing evidence that the local executive has ceased to function appropriately,” said the Rose memo. “Due to persistent and increasing dysfunction, Local 15 is not carrying out its duties in a manner consistent with its obligations.”
Rose replaced president Warren Williams, interim secretary-treasurer Vanessa Mani, first vice-president Santino Scardillo and second vice-president Henry Lee.
A previously scheduled membership meeting went ahead, but planned elections were suspended.
“We ask for your patience and understanding as we navigate many moving pieces throughout the next few days and weeks, and work in the months to come to restore the normal democratic functions of your local,” Rose wrote.
Trouble had been brewing for months. Minutes of a Feb. 25 general membership meeting held by Zoom included a roll call of officers. Williams and Scardillo were listed as “not present-excused.”
Last August, the union reached a new deal with Vancouver city hall for a 3.5% pay raise retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025 and a 3% pay rase beginning Jan. 1, 2026. However, Mayor Ken Sim’s ABC majority froze property taxes with less than a year until the civic election. An estimated 400 full-time equivalent positions were targeted for elimination.
In May 2024, CUPE put Local 1004, the civic outside workers’ union, under administration for the second time in a decade.
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