UNA By-Laws changes (05/31/98)

UNA By-Laws changes

The 34th UNA Convention's By-Laws Committee (consisting of Leon Hardink, chairman; Marianne Cizdyn, Stefan Czorney, Michael Karkoc and Longin Staruch, members) submitted its report on May 17 based on recommendations made by the Executive Committee and the General Assembly's Standing Committee on the UNA By-Laws. The process of outlining the proposed changes was handled item by item by Advisor Taras Szmagala Jr., an Ohio-based attorney who chaired the standing committee.

By two-thirds majority, the delegates approved the following provisions.

Certain rules governing conventions, the suspension or dissolution of branches, funds of the UNA, and the Fraternal Fund were moved into so-called "rules manuals," so that changes could be effected without the stringent requirement of a two-thirds majority at a convention and instead could be changed by a simple majority vote by the General Assembly, which meets annually. The new manuals include: Convention Manual, Branches Manual, Funds Manual, Rates and Benefits Manual, and Beneficiaries Manual.
In the Convention Manual, provisions requiring 11 Elections Committee members was changed to require 14 (as has been the practice since 1978), while the limit of three persons set for the Press Committee was removed and the number left open.
In the Branches Manual, it was stipulated that "no branch shall voluntarily dissolve if it has a minimum of 15 members in good standing," and a passage was added stipulating that "in the event a branch has fewer than 15 members in good standing, the national secretary may, at his direction, cause such branch to be merged with another branch."
In the Funds Manual, the rate of additional dues to the Fraternal Fund paid by adult members in good standing was raised from 15 cents to 25 cents per month.
The Funds Manual section on the Fraternal Fund now notes that all members of the General Assembly and each branch secretary must subscribe to one of the UNA's official publications, Svoboda or The Ukrainian Weekly.
In the Charter, the UNA headquarters location was changed to Parsippany, Morris County, New Jersey, at 2200 Route 10.
The UNA secretary will now be referred to as national secretary.
The ceiling for the age of eligibility for membership was raised from 65 to 80.
Consideration of, and voting upon, questions and resolutions that require approval by convention delegates between regular conventions can now be conducted by mail (previously this could be done only by convening a special convention); such votes are to be conducted by a third party to ensure privacy of balloting.
Executive Committee meetings may now be held via videoconference to the extent permitted by law.
All officers of the General Assembly will turn over all monies, books, papers, securities and other property of the UNA at the end of the term for which they were elected or upon earlier termination.
The provision stipulating the months when a General Assembly meeting is to be held was removed.
The provision that required the convention's approval of members eligible to become honorary members of the General Assembly after three terms of office was removed. The new provision states that individuals who have served 20 years or more on the General Assembly are now automatically eligible for honorary membership if they choose to accept it.
The Executive Committee may choose to hire professional recorders to take and prepare the minutes of UNA conventions.
As a result of the vote supporting the merger of the Ukrainian Fraternal Association with the UNA, several seats on the UNA General Assembly will be reserved for representatives of the UFA if the merger proceeds (i.e., if the Ukrainian Fraternal Association votes at its upcoming convention to merge with the UNA, and if state insurance authorities approve the merger). In accordance with the merger agreement, the UFA will be entitled to the post of senior vice-president, one auditor and three advisors. The by-laws of the newly merged association will then be amended to reflect these changes. (Another by-laws amendment presented due to the proposed merger was that of a new name for the merged entity: Ukrainian National Fraternal Association. However, delegates did not approve that change by the required two-thirds. The vote was 61.2 percent for the name change and 38.8 percent opposed.)
The frequency of publication of the Ukrainian-language newspaper Svoboda was changed from a daily to a weekly. (Since the UNA By-Laws refer to the Svoboda daily as one of the UNA's two official organs, in order for the recommendation to change the newspaper to a weekly to be adopted, the delegates had to approve it by a two-thirds majority. A total of 195 delegates voted on the Svoboda recommendation, with 138 approving the change to a weekly, 47 voting against and 10 abstaining. Of the delegates voting, 138 is 70.7 percent; however, 227 delegates were registered at the 34th convention, of which 138 is merely 60.8 percent. As pointed out by outgoing Advisor Eugene Iwanciw, such an amendment must pass with consent from two-thirds of the delegates registered at a convention.)