EDITORIAL: The 34th Convention (05/24/98)

EDITORIAL

The 34th Convention

No matter how one looks at it, the 34th Convention of the Ukrainian National Association was a milestone in the history of this 104-year-old fraternal organization.

It was the first UNA convention to be held in Canada, where the UNA has been active since the beginning of this century. The first Canadian UNA branch - St. Michael's Brotherhood - was founded in Toronto in 1916. It was also the last UNA convention of the 20th century, the conclave that will take the Ukrainian National Association into the 21st century - hopefully as a more viable and efficient entity.

As noted in the opening speech delivered by UNA President Ulana Diachuk, the convention was "one of the most important held in the past several decades," due to the fact that delegates deliberated changes to the UNA By-Laws, mergers with two other Ukrainian fraternal organizations and the fate of UNA fraternal benefits.

Several by-laws amendments will change UNA operations, such as one providing for a vote via mail on issues that normally would have to be brought before a quadrennial convention or a special convention. Delegates approved a proposal providing for just such a vote on the matter of creating an 11-member board of directors to replace the current 25-member General Assembly. If the proposal passes, the UNA's 35th Regular Convention, to be held in the year 2002, will elect an 11-member board of directors, which would meet quarterly and would hire and fire executive officers. Since this recommendation proposes a fundamental and dramatic change to the UNA's structure, and since it will be decided in a vote-by-mail referendum, we hope that the pages of this publication can serve as a forum for the type of debate that normally would happen on the floor of the convention.

With regard to mergers with the Ukrainian Fraternal Association and the Ukrainian National Aid Association of America, delegates voted overwhelmingly in support of both. However, on the issue of changing the name of the newly merged entity to "Ukrainian National Fraternal Association" (a move sought by the UFA), 38.8 percent of the 227 delegates voted "nay." Nonetheless, a clear signal was sent: despite the fact that a large number of UNA members wish to retain the well-known name of the larger and older Ukrainian National Association, UNA members are fully supportive of a merger and wish to welcome their brothers from both the UFA and UNAAA.

Tough decisions were required of the delegates to the 34th Convention when it came to the UNA's fraternal benefits. Having heard reports about the serious financial state of the UNA, the delegates approved proposals to curtail the season of the UNA's upstate New York resort, Soyuzivka, to three and a half months. They also voted to transform the Ukrainian-language newspaper Svoboda from a daily into a weekly with a format akin to that of this newspaper. That the issue was emotional and troublesome was evident: in the first vote on the matter delegates rejected the idea of making Svoboda a weekly by a margin of 121-62; when the matter was revisited, however, complete with a presentation from the UNA acting treasurer that continuing to publish a daily newspaper will sink the UNA, the delegates changed their minds, and their votes, approving the weekly 138 to 47, with 10 abstentions.

Unfortunately, as always, time was too short. Many issues were not discussed, those discussed could not be done so in depth, and there was little time for reflection. Though this organization was founded and sustained by immigrations, convention participants found little time to discuss how to reach out to new arrivals in our communities, took no time to reflect upon the type of decisions that had been made to deliver the UNA to its current financial state, and avoided discussion on what expenses besides fraternal activities could be curtailed and how to increase revenues.

The 34th Regular Convention of the UNA is now behind us. As a parting thought, we wish the newly elected General Assembly the strength and wisdom, honesty and integrity, patience and good health necessary to lead this oldest and largest Ukrainian fraternal society into the 21st century.