THE 36th CONVENTION OF THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
UNA Convention discusses pressing concerns of 112-year-old fraternal society
Last week's issue of The Ukrainian Weekly provided a succinct report on the major news from the Ukrainian National Association's 36th Regular Convention. In this week's report: details on the day-to-day deliberations.
by Roma Hadzewycz
KERHONKSON, N.Y. - The Ukrainian National Association's 36th Convention held at Soyuzivka on May 26-29 elected a new General Assembly and discussed a variety of pressing concerns for this 112-year-old fraternal organization active in the United States and Canada.
Over the course of four days, the convention delegates, and members and honorary members of the General Assembly, focused on the UNA's operations, as well as those of its subsidiaries, the Ukrainian National Urban Renewal Corp., the Ukrainian National Foundation, Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly, and Soyuzivka and the recently established Soyuzivka Heritage Foundation.
The convention officially got under way on Friday morning, May 26, with a brief ceremony at the foot of the Taras Shevchenko monument led by Roman Hawryluk, a member of the Convention Committee. A color guard composed of Mathew Koziak, Myron Groch and Vasyl Luchkiw displayed the U.S., Canadian and Ukrainian flags, and the national anthems of the three countries were sung by Sviatoslava Kaczaraj.
The traditional Ukrainian greeting with bread and salt was offered by Luba Yablonska. In turn, UNA President Kaczaraj welcomed all to Soyuzivka for the historic first UNA convention ever to be held at the UNA estate. Afterwards, the women of the UNA General Assembly laid a wreath in front of the statue of the Rev. Hryhoriy Hrushka, the first editor-in-chief of Svoboda and the founding father of the Ukrainian National Association.
Once in the session hall, delegates were welcomed by Mr. Kaczaraj, and the Rev. Myron Kotch offered an invocation. The UNA president read the names of UNA activists who had passed away since the 35th Convention (the list appeared in last week's issue) and called for a moment of silence in their honor.
Next, Credentials Committee Chair Myron Kuzio (Branch 277) reported that his committee, which included Julian Kotlar (Branch 42), Stefanie Hawryluk (Branch 88), Anna Slobodian (Branch 88) and Paul Fuga (Branch 269), had reviewed the credentials of delegates and alternates. He announced that as of the convention opening there were 17 General Assembly members and honorary members, 84 delegates and two alternates registered, for a total of 103 mandates.
The agenda was adopted as proposed, and the minutes of the previous convention were accepted.
Elected to conduct the convention were Taras Szmagala Sr. (honorary member of the General Assembly), chairman, and Vasyl Kolodchin (Branch 94) and Michael Sawkiw Jr. (Branch 57/16), respectively, first and second vice-chairmen. The chair tapped attorney Andrij V.R. Szul as convention parliamentarian.
The Elections, Petitions and Secretaries committees were then elected, and a five-member Press Committee was appointed. Previously appointed were the Finance and By-Laws committees. Michael Bohdan (Branch 133/338) and Donald Horbaty (Branch 414 alternate) were named sergeants-at-arms.
With the opening formalities completed, the next item on the agenda was the reports of General Assembly members.
As most of the reports had been submitted beforehand and published for distribution to all convention participants, UNA officers, auditors and advisors, as well as the editors-in-chief of Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly for the most part offered either the highlights of their reports or addenda. (National Secretary Christine E. Kozak pledged that the full texts of all reports will be published along with the convention minutes within six months of the convention.)
Last to speak was the UNA president, who noted that the UNA simply "cannot spend more than we earn." He pointed to the large expenses associated with the UNA's fraternal benefits, primarily its estate and its two official publications, while underscoring that "percentage-wise, the UNA gives more to our community than credit unions because we support things that are for the entire community, like the newspapers and Soyuzivka."
Mr. Kaczaraj said that, according to the UNA's actuaries, "until we reduce significantly our expenditures related to the resort and publications, it will not be possible to put in place a marketing plan to build a block of profitable new business that will be significant to guarantee a healthy financial future for the UNA."
He also reported that the Ukrainian Fraternal Association has once again expressed interest in merging with the UNA, explaining that it has three conditions: one member on the executive, two advisors and one auditor. The UFA, he noted, has dropped its insistence on a name change.
Mr. Kaczaraj concluded his report by noting that the UNA must: attract recent immigrants from Ukraine as members; continue efforts to establish a professional sales force; convert Canadian policies into U.S. policies and thereby eliminate expenses related to Canadian business regulations; end its very costly financial support of Soyuzivka as this endangers the UNA's future; and reduce subsidies to its publications.
A discussion of the reports followed, with numerous delegates expressing their opinions and posing questions. The following were among the comments offered.
Bohdan Odezynskyj (Branch 216) suggested that an endowment fund be established for the UNA's publications, while Wolodymyr Kozicky (Branch 8) underscored that the newspapers need more advertising.
Lev Bodnar (Branch 131/472) emphasized the need for Ukrainian-language applications if the UNA is to attract new members among the most recently arrived Ukrainian immigrants.
Tymko Butrej (Branch 164/162) asked, "Who gave you the authority to destroy the UNA by liquidating branches?" His comments were supported by George Soltys (Branch 327/17), who said the UNA "should not reduce its branches because this is counterproductive," adding "Who wants to join an organization that is going down?"
Volodymyr Bakum (Branch 172) expressed congratulations to The Ukrainian Weekly for its excellent reports from Ukraine, while Michael Koziupa (Branch 76) underscored that the UNA's newspapers, though they are deficit-producing, are "its marketing tool" - one that "should be used better."
Stefan Lysiak (Branch 283/355) said new secretaries need to be trained and encouraged in order to be successful, and Vera Krywyj (Branch 174) suggested that the UNA needs better advertisements targeting the younger generations "to attract our children to the UNA."
Bohdan Kukurudza (Branch 399) asked if the UNA could institute term limits for its officers. "We need new people with new ideas," he said.
NFCA president's address
Addressing the convention session during its first day was Frederick Grubbe, president and CEO of the National Fraternal Congress of America, who spoke on the state of the fraternal benefit system. "The fraternal benefit system is like a 747: it's big, slow and lumbering, yet it's also strong and reliable. When a 747 turns, it's a slow, gradual turn. It doesn't dart up or down, right or left, like a fighter jet, because if the pilot tried to turn the 747 too quickly, it would stall and crash. As the fraternal benefit system changes its culture, like the 747, it will be slow and gradual, but always in the capable hands of a skilled pilot," he said.
He noted that fraternals are by nature "modest" - "they keep quiet and do their work." Thus, they do not do enough to promote themselves, to tell others about their great work. That is why, he continued, the NFCA has initiated the "Fraternalists in Action Program" to spotlight the work of individual fraternalists - the core of all fraternal societies.
Public awareness of fraternals' good work is especially needed these days, Mr. Grubbe explained, as the U.S. Congress is looking to increase revenue in order to counter large deficits. Therefore, the 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status of fraternals is threatened. "We need to look for ways to highlight the good that we do and to emphasize our relevance in today's changing society," he underscored.
Also during Friday's deliberations, a five-member Resolutions Committee was named, and National Secretary Kozak conducted a brief awards ceremony to recognize top organizers and the longest-serving branch secretaries. (The full list of awards presented appears on page 10.)
The session on Saturday, May 27, began with General Assembly members responding to questions posed to them during the previous day's discussion.
Responding to a question about the UNA's former Director of Publications Walter Prochorenko, President Kaczaraj explained that the UNA had severed its relationship with him after he sent a number of unauthorized letters promoting himself and his candidacy for the UNA presidency using UNA stationery and postage, as well as company time and personnel. The letters were sent in the days leading up to the 36th Convention to UNA delegates and branch secretaries, using proprietary mailing lists.
Amendments to UNA By-Laws, Manuals
Reporting for the By-Laws Committee, which included Bohdan Doboszczak (Branch 59), Oksana Lopatynsky (Branch 194), Nicholas Bobeczko (Branch 102) and Alexander Kisak (Branch 465), was Mr. Staruch.
The committee had received 11 proposals for amendments to the UNA By-Laws, four of which it recommended to the convention.
The first amendment presented would eliminate the position of director for Canada. The argument for this proposal was that, since UNA business in Canada is so small, there is no need to maintain this high-level position on the UNA Executive Committee.
A heated discussion ensued, with delegates speaking out against the proposal. Lev Bodnar (Branch 131/472) asked: "Why eliminate this position if it is an unpaid position?" Ihor Kobil (Branch 412/498) decried the move as a mistake, as "there is much potential in Canada and there are many active UNA'ers."
Roma Hadzewycz (Branch 287/340) questioned why this proposal was being brought up if the agenda item "Status of the UNA in Canada" had not yet been discussed. She also pointed out that eliminating the Canadian director's position would leave only one mandatory position for a representative from Canada, that of advisor.
Advisor Myron Groch of Founthill, Ontario, asked "Is this a question of money?" and added, "Your approach is liquidate and eliminate; it's time to stop this sort of approach." He explained that previously one advisor and one auditor had been eliminated and that all that was left for the UNA's Canadian members was the Canadian director and one advisor. Another delegate added, "We might as well eliminate the Canadian flag from the UNA emblem."
Roman Kuropas (Branch 20/86) advised, "If it's not broke, don't fix it. We have potential in Canada with 1 million Ukrainians." He added that the UNA has to consider the possibilities of increasing membership instead of eliminating the director's position.
The current director for Canada, Al Kachkowski of Saskatoon, argued: "This is not about my ego, as I am fully open to the idea of the director to be from Ontario," where there is a larger concentration of Ukrainians. However, "It is also important how many members the Executive Committee has." At present, he explained, there is a balance between the three paid executives and three volunteers. "This balance would be upset if this proposal passes and all the power would be given, to the three paid executives."
Earlier, Mr. Kachkowski had noted in the addendum to his written report that "Canada is suffering from neglect" and that "the effort and time spent on Canada by the executives is minimal." He had made the case that there is potential for the UNA in Canada, since there are 1 million Ukrainians in that country. What is most important, he said, "is the political will of the leadership and the endorsement of the convention ... to get serious about Canada."
The proposal to eliminate the Canadian director's position was defeated by a vote of 96 against and five for.
The next proposal was to reduce the number of advisors on the General Assembly from 11 to seven, based on the argument that, since the UNA has fewer members, there should be fewer advisors.
Maria Oscislawski (Branch 234) advised against such a move, noting that advisors should help secretaries organize members in their communities. Mr. Kachkowski seconded this idea, pointing out that the advisors can be "empowered" to help the UNA on the local level.
Advisor Vasyl Luchkiw cautioned that by reducing the number of advisors the UNA "is hastening its own demise." Advisor Gloria Horbaty argued that advisors should be given tasks and more responsibility, and said she was against the proposal.
Advisor Andrij Skyba stated that the proposals seem to be focused on decreasing the UNA and its influence. "We should use the advisors and heed their advice," he added.
Many other speakers voiced the opinion that reducing the number of advisors does nothing to help the UNA and that, in fact, it hurts the organization as it cuts down on the number of its representatives throughout North America.
At this point, the Credentials Committee reported that a there were 113 authorized voters. In order for a by-laws amendment to pass, two-thirds approval, or 76 votes were needed.
The proposal to reduce the number of advisors from 11 to seven was supported by nine votes and opposed by 84; seven voters registered their abstentions.
An alternate proposal to reduce the number of advisors to nine also did not pass as it received 47 votes for and 49 against, with three abstentions. However, Auditor Alexander Serafyn called for a recount of the vote, stating that he was not certain the vote was properly taken, and the chairman ruled that the revote would be done via written ballot. The result was 50 votes in support of the proposal, 54 against and 5 abstentions.
Next, the By-Laws Committee presented a proposal that would grant the Executive Committee the power to replace advisors who do not fulfill their duties, specifically those who fail to attend two meetings of the General Assembly without a valid excuse. A discussion ensued about how it would be determined what exactly a valid excuse is and the extraordinary power that would be granted to the executives.
The proposal was later modified to read that advisors who fail to attend two such meetings without a valid excuse would be asked to resign. The Executive Committee would then appoint the next person in line in terms of the votes received at the previous convention; otherwise, the General Assembly would appoint the new member by a 75 percent vote. Nonetheless, the proposal failed to pass, as it received 48 votes for, 59 against and three abstentions.
The final by-laws amendment proposed changing the title of the UNA's treasurer in Ukrainian from "kasyr" to "skarbnyk." Though the amendment received 66 votes for, one against and 13 abstentions, it failed to pass the two-thirds threshold required for it to be adopted.
Development of Soyuzivka
On Saturday afternoon, May 27, Treasurer Roma Lisovich gave a Power Point presentation about development plans for Soyuzivka. She presented the situation at the UNA estate as it stood in 2002, at the time of the last convention, and as it stands now, four years later.
There has been marked improvement, Ms. Lisovich reported, in terms of rooms income (up 62 percent) and total income (up 38 percent). However, fixed costs, such as insurance, also went up (total expenses increased by 19 percent) and capital improvements had to be made. Thus, high deficits continue to plague Soyuzivka, she acknowledged.
Ms. Lisovich also noted the "most inspiring work" of young volunteers who have stepped up to the plate, working on clean-up projects at Soyuzivka and conducting fund-raising.
Discussion of Ms. Lisovich's report was moved to the next day, as delegates later insisted that a special session be called for Sunday, though none was scheduled, in order to cover the topic of Soyuzivka.
The Saturday session also included a very brief discussion of changes to the UNA Manuals. The By-Laws Committee reported that four proposals were made and that it was recommending three of them. Changes to the Manuals require a simple majority in order to pass.
All three proposals were adopted. They were:
The session ended with the scheduled discussion on "Status of the UNA in Canada." President Kaczaraj explained that the UNA's actuary is advising the UNA to pull out of Canada by either converting Canadian policies to U.S. policies or turning over the UNA's Canadian polices to a Canadian company.
Director for Canada Al Kachkowski reiterated his earlier remarks that the Executive Committee must pay more attention to Canada and asked "How can the Canadian director, a volunteer, be charged with finding all the solutions?"
Advisor Myron Groch cautioned that if the UNA leaves Canada it would lose members and prestige.
The discussion ended with the delegates' consensus being that there is indeed a potential for increasing membership in Canada and with Canadian delegates noting that UNA'ers in Canada must redouble their efforts to revive UNA activity in their country.
Another major agenda item that day was the primary vote for members of the General Assembly, that is, six executive officers, three auditors and 11 advisors, which is conducted via a write-in ballot. That morning, the Credentials Committee announced that Walter Prochorenko, formerly the UNA's director of publications, is not a member in good standing of the UNA and, therefore, is not eligible to run for office. Mr. Prochorenko, who had intentions of running for president, had attempted to distribute his campaign materials to convention delegates that day.
The results of the primary voting, in which 110 ballots were cast, were announced on Sunday afternoon, May 28, immediately before the special session convened to discuss the development of Soyuzivka as a follow-up to the presentation the day prior by Treasurer Lisovich.
The voting results were presented by the Elections Committee: Roman Kuropas (Branch 20/86), Christine Brodyn (Branch 27), Andrew Hrechak (Branch 76), Nadia Salabay (Branch 155), Oksana Koziak (Branch 47), Bohdan Odezynskyj (Branch 216), Jaroslawa Komichak (Branch 96), Cecilia Kachkowski (Branch 444/441), Ihor Kobil (Branch 412/498), Bohdan Doboszczak (Branch 59), Stefan Lysiak (Branch 283-355) and Oksana Lew (Branch 5). (Complete results were published in last week's issue.) The final balloting took place the next morning.
During the discussion about Soyuzivka, Longin Staruch (Branch 172) asked his fellow delegates if they were satisfied with their stay at Soyuzivka - their rooms, their meals and the special dinners held on Friday and Saturday evenings, respectively, the Hutsul-theme dinner with entertainment by the Cheres folk ensemble and the "Tastes of the World" dinner featuring the cuisines of France, Italy, Greece and the Caribbean. The answer was a resounding yes. Mr. Staruch then replied: "Go home and tell your friends, and spread the good word about Soyuzivka."
Auditor Alexander Serafyn stated that Soyuzivka is losing more than $600,000 per year and that "something must be done as soon as possible, otherwise the UNA's future is at risk."
The Rev. Myron Kotch (Branch 39) exhorted: "How can we tell Ukrainians we want to sell Soyuzivka? ... Let's get to work."
Volodymyr Bakum (Branch 172) suggested,"We need to find 5,000 people to donate only $100 each year" and this will go a long way to help Soyuzivka.
President Kaczaraj responded by explaining that, "in the end, if you can't cover costs [of Soyuzivka], there still is a problem. Even collecting $1,000 a year from 500 people would cover only the costs of operations."
Lev Bodnar (Branch 131/472) commented, "It would be a sin if we sold Soyuzivka to non-Ukrainians. ... We helped Ukraine, now we need to focus attention on ourselves."
The rest of the day was taken up by divine liturgy in the morning, the convention concert in the afternoon and the convention banquet in the evening.
Convention committee reports
The sessions on Monday, May 29, the final day of the 36th Convention, began with reports by convention committees, with Slavko Tysiak (Branch 13) reporting for the Finance Committee, Julian Pishko (Branch 385/386) for the Petitions Committee, Motria Milanytch (Branch 450/241) for the Secretaries Committee, and Wasyl Szeremeta (Branch 247/347) and George Soltys (Branch 327/17) for the Resolutions Committee. (The full texts of the reports and names of all committee members appear on pages 11-12.)
Each of the reports was open to discussion by the delegates, with the resolutions and recommendations of the Resolutions Committee - covering items as diverse as the erection of a monument to Patriarch Mstyslav at Soyuzivka, the creation of a Publications Endowment Fund to ensure the future of the UNA's newspapers, the participation of Svoboda and The Weekly editors-in-chief in deliberations of the General Assembly, and the publication of complete information about proposed by-laws changes well in advance of the convention - eliciting the most reaction.
Once the Resolutions Committee had completed its report, Auditor Alexander Serafyn questioned why a proposed resolution regarding Soyuzivka that had been submitted by the Detroit District had not been presented. Copies of the proposal were distributed to delegates, who then proceeded to discuss the proposal that the UNA "cease its support of Soyuzivka by June 30, 2007, and publish a bimonthly progress report commencing in August 2006."
Most speakers objected to the negative tone of the proposed resolution, which stated that "A transfer of Soyuzivka to the Soyuzivka Heritage Foundation Inc. will not make it self-sufficient. It will only hide the problem." Delegates from near and far noted that keeping Soyuzivka is important to them and that what is needed is a new approach to the problem.
Luba Keske (Branch 257-307) of California protested: "I did not come for a funeral. We have a moral obligation to keep Soyuzivka."
Director for Canada Al Kachkowski of Saskatoon called on all "to think out of the box" in seeking solutions to Soyuzivka's very real financial problems.
President Kaczaraj pointed to the continuing serious deficits at the resort, while Auditor Zenon Holubec noted that "the resolution does not speak of ending the Soyuzivka Heritage Foundation, but of ending the UNA's support for the estate."
In the end, the proposed resolution was defeated.
Speaking for the Press Committee, Roma Hadzewycz reported that the committee members - Vasyl Kolodchin (Branch 94), Omelan Twardowsky (Branch 214/353 ), Zenon Wasylkevych (Branch 174) and Vera Krywyj (Branch 174) and Ms. Hadzewycz (Branch 287-340) - had met to outline what the convention news release should contain and decided to ask delegates to suggest which news media in their areas should receive releases about the UNA convention.
Also on the final day of deliberations, Advisor Vasyl Luchkiw led a brief ceremony to recognize all veterans of both the U.S. and Ukrainian armed forces on the occasion of Memorial Day. After he asked veterans of various wars and conflicts to rise, the convention delegates gave them a standing ovation. He then called for a moment of silence to honor those who fell in battle and deceased veterans.
Next came the announcement of the final results of voting for Supreme Assembly offices (see complete results published in last week's issue), during which 108 persons out of the 113 authorized voted. The subsequent swearing in of new executive officers, auditors and advisors was conducted by outgoing Advisor Stefan Hawrysz, the most senior member of the General Assembly present at the convention.
The UNA's future
The final item on the agenda was discussion on the topic "UNA: Shaping the Future." It was a wide-ranging discussion that touched on various facets of the UNA's work, from its newspapers to Soyuzivka, the UNA Scholarship Program, the potential market for UNA insurance products among the latest wave of Ukrainian immigrants and succession planning for UNA activists.
Wolodymyr Kozicky (Branch 8) underscored that "the UNA without its press and without Soyuzivka is nothing." He urged delegates to adopt the slogan "Let's preserve our heritage" and to conduct fund-raising within our communities. A credit union leader, he pledged to speak about a matching funds program at an upcoming conference of the Ukrainian National Credit Union Association.
Lubov Steletsky (Branch 10) focused on the potential UNA membership among new immigrants, underlining, however, that "we have to speak to them in terms they understand." She added that we must stop speaking about "us and them" and welcome new arrivals as members of our community.
Olha Maruszczak (Branch 82/341) said that, if presented a choice between the UNA's publications and Soyuzivka, she would choose the newspapers because without them the UNA will not continue to exist.
Slavko Tysiak (Branch 13) emphasized that the UNA needs succession planning and suggested that a mentoring program be set up to train future branch secretaries.
Responding to one delegate's statement that the lone candidate for president did not present any campaign platform and a question about what the newly re-elected president wants to accomplish in the next four years, Mr. Kaczaraj focused on three main topics: UNA publications, Soyuzivka and insurance sales.
He noted that upgraded websites are in the works for both The Ukrainian Weekly and Svoboda and expressed his opinion that other Ukrainian community institutions, too, should support the newspapers since they use them to share information about their activities with our community. Mr. Kaczaraj also noted that campaigns are being conducted to increase subscribers and advertisers, both key to improving the publications' bottom line.
Regarding Soyuzivka, the UNA president said "perhaps we have to consider opening the estate to the general public," especially since we need to get people to stay at Soyuzivka during the off-season. "Occupancy of 70 to 80 percent is normal year-round, but we need better facilities," he continued. He also emphasized the need for better promotion and for advertising among other ethnic groups. Still other possibilities for the estate include the construction of condominiums and a time-share program, Mr. Kaczaraj said, adding that what is most needed is an investor to fund this.
On the insurance side, Mr. Kaczaraj said the UNA needs sales agents to sell to new immigrants. He pointed to Washington and Pennsylvania, where organizers have been very successful among this segment of the Ukrainian community, and asked why this success cannot be replicated elsewhere. In addition, he said the UNA has to spend some money on training and retraining of branch secretaries.
Turning to the UNA's newly elected advisors, the president said that he will require each advisor to organize three to four meetings per year to which the Home Office will send a representative to speak about the UNA. "First we need to tell people about the UNA, and then we can sell insurance to them," he underlined.
After the president's remarks, the convention was adjourned with the singing of the Ukrainian national anthem.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 11, 2006, No. 24, Vol. LXXIV
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