UNA General Assembly holds pre-convention annual meeting (11/16/97)

UNA General Assembly holds pre-convention annual meeting

by Roma Hadzewycz

KERHONKSON, N.Y. - The Ukrainian National Association's General Assembly met here at the UNA estate, Soyuzivka, on November 6-8 for its annual meeting - its last before the regular convention of the largest Ukrainian fraternal benefit society, which is scheduled to take place in May of next year in Toronto.

During its three days of deliberations, the UNA General Assembly, the highest decision-making body of the UNA between its quadrennial conventions, took the following actions:

examined and approved merger agreements with the Ukrainian National Aid Association and the Ukrainian Fraternal Association, which will be presented for final approval to the UNA convention;
discussed and approved several proposed amendments to the UNA By-Laws that will be presented to convention delegates (who must ratify any changes by a two-thirds majority);
adopted a budget for 1998 of $10,774,000 in income and $11,024,000 in expenses;
confirmed the Executive Committee's acceptance of a request made by Treasurer Alexander Blahitka for a leave of absence for medical reasons, effective immediately through June 30, 1998.

The General Assembly also adopted a mission statement of the Ukrainian National Association that underlines the principles enumerated in the UNA's charter and renews the fraternal commitments made therein. The mission statement is designed to serve as both a shortened version and an updated restatement of the organizational purposes delineated in the UNA charter.

Present at the annual session were: President Ulana Diachuk, Vice-President Nestor Olesnycky, Director for Canada Peter Savaryn, Vice-Presidentess Anya Dydyk-Petrenko, Secretary Martha Lysko, Treasurer Alexander Blahitka, Auditors Stefan Hawrysz, William Pastuszek, Stefania Hewryk, Anatole Doroshenko and Iwan Wynnyk, and Advisors Roma Hadzewycz, Tekla Moroz, Stefko Kuropas, Walter Korchynsky, Eugene Iwanciw, Stefanie Hawryluk, Taras Szmagala Jr., Alexander Serafyn, Andrew Keybida, Anne Remick, Roman Kuropas and the Rev. Myron Stasiw. Advisor Alex Chudolij was unable to be present during the Thursday and Friday sessions, but was present on Saturday. Also participating was Acting Treasurer Stefan Kaczaraj. (Advisor Nick Diakiwsky excused his absence.)

Also in attendance were honorary members of the UNA General Assembly Stepan Kuropas, Anna Chopek, Mary Dushnyck, Anna Haras, Walter Sochan, John O. Flis, Joseph Lesawyer and Wasyl Didiuk, as well as the editors-in-chief of the Ukrainian language daily newspaper Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly, respectively, Zenon Snylyk and Ms. Hadzewycz. (Honorary member Genevieve Zerebniak resigned from the General Assembly due to poor health.)

The annual session, held Thursday through Saturday, November 6-8, was shortened by one day, as all General Assembly members attended the official blessing of the UNA's new headquarters building in Parsippany, N.J., on Sunday, November 9. As a result, the Assembly scheduled evening sessions in order to complete its agenda, which included reports of executive officers, advisors and auditors, as well as editors-in-chief of Svoboda and The Weekly and Soyuzivka Manager John A. Flis; a review of fraternal operations, reports of assembly committees and acceptance of the 1998 budget. The annual meeting culminated in the traditional banquet for General Assembly members and guests.

The annual meeting began with the traditional ceremony near Soyuzivka's monument to Taras Shevchenko, the patron of the Ukrainian National Association, conducted by Vice-Presidentess Dydyk-Petrenko. In a brief address, Ms. Dydyk-Petrenko prompted General Assembly members to consider the fact that "we are standing on the threshold of a new century" and called on them to look to the future. She also reminded Assembly members that the next UNA convention is almost upon us and asked them to ask themselves: "Did we accomplish everything we pledged to do? Did we devote enough attention, time and expertise to significant matters?"

The vice-presidentess noted that the UNA today is facing "moments of crisis," the most important of which is declining membership, as members pass on and their ranks are not replenished. Ms. Dydyk-Petrenko exhorted the assembly: "This matter demands our immediate attention, otherwise we will betray those generations that will follow us."

The ceremony concluded with the U.S., Canadian and Ukrainian national anthems and with the singing of Shevchenko's "Testament."

General Assembly members then proceeded to the Main House library, where their sessions began with brief remarks by President Diachuk, who called for a moment of silence in honor of the late former Supreme Vice-Presidentess Anne Herman and former Supreme Advisor Walter Kwas, as well as all branch and district officers and members who had died during the past year.

An invocation was offered by the Rev. Stasiw, who asked that God "grant the members clear consciences so that these deliberations are held in peace and for the good of the UNA."

After greetings from Michigan Gov. John Engler were read, the agenda was adopted and the minutes of the last annual meeting were approved, General Assembly members turned to the business at hand.

Mrs. Diachuk reported that the treasurer had requested a medical leave of absence through the end of the current term of office. She said the UNA Executive Committee, meeting that morning, had unanimously decided to grant Mr. Blahitka's request and to continue paying his full salary throughout the period of his leave. The members of the assembly were asked to vote on approving the executives' decision, which they did with two abstentions.

The president then announced that, acting in accordance with the UNA By-Laws, the Executive Committee had appointed an acting treasurer. He is Stefan Kaczaraj, C.P.A., who has been the UNA's chief accountant for the past four years, and prior to that had served as an outside auditor for the UNA. Mr. Kaczaraj will serve out the remainder of the treasurer's term. (The officers elected at the 1998 convention assume office on July 1.)

Most of the day was then devoted to reports of General Assembly members, which consisted of addenda to their written reports, copies of which were distributed to all present, and a discussion of those reports. Among the major topics of discussion were UNA dividends, which had been suspended by UNA executives for 1997 due to the expenses of upcoming mergers with two other Ukrainian fraternal organizations, and the UNA scholarship program, including how scholarship funds are paid out to students in the United States and Canada.

The evening session on the first day of deliberations was set aside for a meeting of the Mission Statement Committee. Once all the members agreed that the statement should underscore the purposes set forth in the UNA's charter dating to its beginnings as a fraternal benefit society, they worked to fine-tune the wording of a statement that would update the organization's founding principles in a concise and clear manner. The committee reported its proposal for the UNA Mission Statement the next day, and the wording was unanimously approved by all members of the General Assembly.

The Mission Statement reads as follows:

"The Ukrainian National Association exists: to promote the principles of fraternalism; to preserve the Ukrainian, Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian heritage and culture; and to provide quality financial services and products to its members.

"As a fraternal insurance society, the Ukrainian National Association reinvests its earnings for the benefit of its members and the Ukrainian community."

The Friday agenda included the matter of mergers involving two other Ukrainian fraternal organizations. Assembly members reviewed the details of merger agreements with the Ukrainian National Aid Association of America (UNAAA) and the Ukrainian Fraternal Association (UFA). The General Assembly voted in both cases to authorize the Executive Committee to execute the agreement of merger.

In the case of the UFA, however, there was the additional provision of a new name for the merged entity, as the Ukrainian Fraternal Association insists that the new organization be called the Ukrainian National Fraternal Association. Members of the General Assembly discussed and debated the issue of the name change and then voted 12 to 9 (with one abstention) to accept the UFA's proposed name change. However, that provision has to be approved by a two-thirds majority at the 1998 convention of the UNA since it involves an amendment to the UNA By-Laws.

There is some concern that the issue of the name change could be the downfall of the proposed merger as many members of the UNA feel strongly that the Ukrainian National Association should retain its name. The General Assembly voted to go ahead with the UNA-UFA merger even if the name change is not passed by the UNA convention, and decided that such a contingency should be written into the agreement of merger.

The remainder of Friday's daytime session was taken up by reports of the Soyuzivka manager, and the Svoboda and Weekly editors-in-chief, as well as a review of fraternal operations - the UNA's two newspapers, its print shop, scholarships, awards to students of Ukrainian studies schools, pedagogical courses at Soyuzivka, the Kyiv Press Bureau and the Fund for the Rebirth of Ukraine. The examination of fraternal benefits continued into the next day.

The Friday evening session was devoted to a meeting of the General Assembly's By-Laws Committee, which examined amendments to the UNA By-Laws suggested by members of the organization's Standing Committee on the By-Laws. The deliberations were chaired by Mr. Szmagala.

Among the proposed changes subsequently approved by the entire Assembly - which will be presented for the action of convention delegates next year - were the following:

to create the position of senior vice-president as a full-time salaried executive position that will be reserved in 1998 for a representative of the Ukrainian Fraternal Association (this provision eliminates one of the two existing non-salaried vice-presidents' positions);
to reserve three advisors' seats and one auditor's seat for UFA candidates;
beginning with the year 2002, to change the executive structure of the UNA to a corporate structure, whereby the convention would elect an 11-member board of directors, which would then hire executives to run the day-to-day business of the UNA; the board of directors would meet quarterly and would elect a chairman of the board;
to increase fraternal dues from 15 cents to $1 per month;
to eliminate references to a specific date (month) for the annual meeting of the General Assembly;
to add provisions for two convention recorders, that is, paid professionals who would record the minutes of the proceedings; and
beginning with 2002, to provide for automatic honorary membership on the board of advisors for any elected national officer with 20 years of service to the UNA; the board of advisors would meet annually to advise the board of directors.

Among the proposals rejected by the By-Laws Committee:

that the secretary and treasurer of the UNA be hired, not elective, positions, subject to appointment by the General Assembly, which determines the terms of their employment;
that the position of general counsel be added to the Executive Committee, thus enlarging that body to seven members, that the position be subject to the approval of the General Assembly (as proposed in the cases of the treasurer and secretary), and that the general counsel be allowed to maintain a private practice;
that no auditor, advisor, senior vice-president, vice-president or director for Canada could be employed by the UNA on a full-time basis.

On the final day of deliberations the General Assembly heard the financial report prepared by Acting Treasurer Kaczaraj, who reported the following losses incurred during 1996: Ukrainian National Urban Renewal Corp. (UNURC - the UNA headquarters building in Jersey City), $1,142,923; Soyuzivka, $554,471; Toronto Sales Office, $536,010; and Svoboda, $489,521; for a total loss of $2,722,925. Furthermore, Mr. Kaczaraj reported that the UNA had lost $877,912 during the first nine months of operations in 1997. He emphasized that it is imperative that something be done in order to increase the UNA's revenues and to reduce expenses.

Mr. Kaczaraj also reported on the finances of the UNURC, noting that the Jersey City Home Office had been sold for $21.2 million, but after adjustments to the sale price ($801,750) and selling expenses ($698,651), the sale brought in $19,699,597 (i.e., amount realized). When the book value of the building ($14.66 million) is deducted from the amount realized, the net gain from the sale was $5,035,760. He added that there still are rents in arrears for 1995-1997 totaling approximately $522,000. The UNA's new building in Parsippany, N.J., he reported, was purchased for $4,931,250, but additional expenditures for build-out of the UNA's space and renovations will bring the cost to $6,137,403.

The acting treasurer's report elicited an extended discussion about the work of the Toronto Sales Office, which is headed by Robert Cook, as well as about the fate of the Svoboda daily newspaper. Also a topic of discussion was the announcement that the UNA Executive Committee, at its meeting a day prior to the General Assembly's annual meeting, had voted to close down the print shop and go to an outside contractor to print the UNA's two official publications, Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly.

At the conclusion of Mr. Kaczaraj's report, it was the auditors' turn to report to the General Assembly. The auditors expressed satisfaction with the work of UNA executives, with the exception of Treasurer Blahitka. A motion to accept the reports was made by the auditing committee and accepted by the members of the General Assembly.

Reports of the Assembly's Seniors' Committee and Sports Committee were delivered and unanimously accepted.

The annual meeting concluded with miscellaneous matters, including a discussion of whether a resolution should be adopted regarding a code of ethics for members of the UNA General Assembly.

That evening General Assembly members and guests gathered in the Main House dining room for a banquet with Vice-Presidentess Dydyk-Petrenko and Vice-President Olesnycky acting as masters of ceremonies. Stepán Stépan, lead baritone of the Lviv Opera, entertained guests with renditions of operatic works and folk songs; piano accompaniment was provided by Volodymyr Vynnytsky.

The next day UNA executive officers, auditors, advisors and honorary members of the General Assembly traveled to Parsippany, N.J., for the official blessing of the UNA's new corporate headquarters.

Mission Statement

The Ukrainian National Association exists:

to promote the principles of fraternalism;
to preserve the Ukrainian, Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian heritage and culture; and
to provide quality financial services and products to its members.

As a fraternal insurance society, the Ukrainian National Association reinvests its earnings for the benefit of its members and the Ukrainian community.

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