Northern and Central New Jersey districts convene yearly meeting on organizing matters (10/07/01)

Northern and Central New Jersey districts convene yearly meeting on organizing matters

by Roma Hadzewycz
UNA Advisor

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The New Jersey district committees of the Ukrainian National Association held their fall organizing meeting here at the UNA Corporate Headquarters on Friday, September 21.

The joint meeting was conducted by UNA Advisor Eugene Oscislawski and Michael Zacharko, chairmen, respectively of the Northern New Jersey and Central New Jersey district committees of the UNA.

Bringing the meeting to order at just after 2 p.m., Mr. Oscislawski welcomed branch representatives, district officers and members of the UNA General Assembly: National Secretary Martha Lysko, Treasurer Stefan Kaczaraj and Advisor Roma Hadzewycz. Also present was former UNA Advisor Andrew Keybida. President Ulana Diachuk was unable to attend the meeting due to illness, but Ms. Lysko noted that the UNA chief would mail her report to all those present at the meeting.

The organizing meeting began with a moment of silence for recently deceased UNA members from New Jersey, including longtime UNA Supreme Secretary and Honorary Member of the UNA General Assembly Walter Sochan, Branch 172 Secretary Stepan Kosonocky and Branch 490 Secretary Helena Chornomaz, as well as for the victims of the recent terrorist attacks on the United States.

National Secretary Lysko then proceeded to deliver a report on organizing results thus far for the year 2001. The Northern New Jersey District had fulfilled nearly 22 percent of its annual quota as of June 30, enrolling 36 new members insured for $1.74 million, while the Central New Jersey District had met 13 percent of its mark, signing up six new members insured for $77,000.

She also acknowledged that Julian Kotlar of Branch 42 had brought new applications of 10 members to the meeting.

As well, Ms. Lysko announced that three employees of the UNA Home Office had earned insurance licenses: Christine Brodyn, Oksana Trytjak and Stephan Welhasch.

Turing to organizing results for the UNA as a whole, the national secretary pointed out that of the organization's 238 branches only 68 had enrolled members thus far this year, meeting the 2001 quota of 1,250 new applications by only 17.44 percent.

She also reminded UNA'ers that a minimum of 75 members is needed for a branch to have a delegate to the UNA convention, adding that only active members (i.e., those still paying dues) count toward the membership total to determine the number of a branch's delegates.

She urged her audience to step up organizing efforts during the last quarter of 2001 in order to fulfill the organizing quota before the next convention, scheduled to take place in May 2002 in Chicago. In conclusion Ms. Lysko urged branches to "choose delegates who care about the future of the UNA, not those who simply want a trip to Chicago."

Treasurer Kaczaraj reported that the UNA's bottom line is improving and that the deficit from its two official publications, Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly, is going down from the figures of last year and as of June 30 stands at just over $54,000.

However, the situation at Soyuzivka is not improving, as the UNA resort is continuing to have an annual deficit of approximately $500,000 per year.

As regards the Ukrainian National Urban Renewal Corp., its balance sheet will show marked improvement, according to the treasurer, now that the Social Security Administration is becoming a major tenant of the UNA Corporate Headquarters building.

Over all, the UNA's net change in surplus has shown an increase of more than $1 million as of June 30 of this year when compared with the figures as of June 30, 2000.

Ms. Lysko then took up the next item on the agenda: proposed changes in UNA By-Laws. She said the size of the UNA General Assembly must be cut down from its current 25 members. The question, she said, is: "How many assembly members do we need? How many advisors, how many auditors?"

She also said that Canada currently has four seats guaranteed on the 25-member General Assembly: one executive officer, two advisors and one auditor. She questioned whether those slots should continue to be set aside for Canada if that country accounts for only 6 percent of UNA membership.

As discussion on the proposed changes ensued, the meeting was interrupted by a surprise visit from National Deputy Hryhorii Omelchenko, chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament committee that is charged with fighting corruption, who had arrived in this country to address New Jersey's statewide banquet marking the 10th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. Mr. Omelchenko addressed meeting participants and answered several questions from the audience before the UNA organizing meeting resumed its agenda following a short break for refreshments.

During the discussion regarding the number of members of the General Assembly there were questions regarding UNA advisors, the level of their insurance policies with the UNA, and their role within the UNA.

Ms. Lysko then continued the meeting by once again focusing on the UNA in Canada, where the organization has only 3,000 members, yet pays high fees to Canadian insurance authorities for the right to do business in that country. She mentioned one possible solution to this problem: perhaps UNA members will be able to convert to American policies, for which they will pay in U.S. dollars and then receive benefits in U.S. dollars. Thus, they will remain members of UNA branches in Canada, but they will be considered UNA members on the same basis as members in the United States. Another less attractive possibility is for the UNA to transfer its bloc of members in Canada to another fraternal insurance company, and not necessarily a Ukrainian one. In conclusion, she said that UNA executive officers are still looking into this situation and explained that all foreign entities doing business in Canada have the same dilemma.

The meeting was adjourned by Mr. Zacharko.

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