Blog – UA GSR COMMITTEE

The Ongoing Legacy of the Late Andrew D. (Co-Founder of UA)

July 22, 2022August 3, 2022 uagsrc

It is with very heavy hearts that we pass on the sad news of the death of our beloved co-founder, Andrew D. He lived his life to the fullest right up until the end. According to the medical examiner, it seems that Andrew had a mass blocking his thyroid, so he obviously was not able to breathe properly, and thus died in his sleep unexpectedly at the age of 70 in Rockland County, NY on Monday night July 18th, 2022.

Andrew was kind enough to leave us with so much to remember him by, for example, his numerous recorded shares at nearly all of the UA Speaker Meetings. See Complete List of Andrew’s UA Recordings, which includes an audio Playlist containing 3.5 hours of a 12 Step Study he conducted at the August 2013 UA World Service Conference and an all-day workshop he did in San Francisco. He certainly will never be forgotten! After all, he is survived by all of us, his UA family, who will never let die what he helped birth!

– John N (Arizona)
UAGSRC Webmaster

PS: Click Keeping Our Memories of Andrew Alive to go to a site where we can all share what we most love about Andrew and what he’s meant to us.

Andrew D.

Special Convocation to Reorganize the UA GSB

January 22, 2022February 26, 2022 uagsrc

Summary re February 12, 2022 Special WSC Convocation v 2

Letter from GSRC on Feb. 25, 2022 on Next Action Steps re GSB v 3

We held a Special UA WSC Convocation on Saturday, February 12, 2022 from 11 am – 5 pm ET, to discuss and vote on the Motion to Reorganize the UA GSB. Here’s the full motion. And here’s a Summary of the Motion with Background. (This Motion Summary and Background was prepared by a GSR Committee Working Group of six members).

Here is a short animated video that explains the purpose of the Special Convocation.

If you are interested in becoming a GSR or GSR Alternate, these are the Suggested Duties and Qualifications of the UA GSRs that were passed at the WSC 2021: GSR Duties and Qualifications

GSB, GSRs, WSC

Results of the 2021 WSC

November 19, 2021December 9, 2021 uagsrc

We have received requests for information from GSRs as to the percentage of active GSRs and GSR Alternates on record who attended the World Service Conference 2021 (WSC 2021). Here is our response: There are currently a total of 65 active GSRs (i.e. who have attended GSR Committee meetings and/or GSB meetings in the last 6 months) and 10 GSR Alternates (who are all active). Of those, 74% of the active GSRs attended the WSC 2021, and 90% of the GSR Alternates attended.

Afterwards, on Nov. 18, we emailed the below letter “Invitation to Action” to the GSB per the following motion passed at the World Service Conference 2021. Motion to Elect UA Trustees and Seek Mediation

Thank you for your service and participation,

George G, GSR Committee Chair
Fred A, GSR Committee Co-Chair
Debora G, GSR Committee Secretary

Invitation to Action

Thursday, November 18, 2021

The UA Prosperous Global Vision

Dear UA GSB,

The purpose of this letter is twofold: to share our experience of WSC 2021; and to honor the Conference as the substantial voice of the UA fellowship.

The spirit of joy, unity and cooperation from those who attended the Conference was palpable. We experienced a loving Higher Power expressed in our deliberations on the 15 substantive motions presented. We worked collaboratively, listening to and hearing all voices. We saw Tradition Two¹ at work as we negotiated our differences on the motions on the Agenda, which were all passed with substantial unanimity.

As a direct result of the outreach throughout this entire year by the WSC Planning Committee, GSR Committee, and the GSB Committees, we are thrilled to have had participation from UA members from the following countries: Canada, Columbia, Costa Rica, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, and the UK. In addition, two international members were nominated and elected to become GSB Trustees. There was also a strong focus on diversity and recovery this year with workshops representing the experiences of BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, Women, and Differently-Abled members. Deep joy, exuberance, and connection was expressed through the 131 members at the Saturday night talent show, 53 members at the dance party and 3 newcomers to the Fellowship who showed up for workshops or fellowship events, and 19 UA members from around the world contributing to the Art Show. There were 95 full conference attendees, including 36 members-at -large, 48 GSRs, 9 GSR Alternates, and 1 GSB Committee Chair, in addition to 70 volunteers (tech, hosts, speakers, etc). We were guided by the help of a parliamentarian and recording secretary.

As fellow underearners recovering in the spirit of Tradition One, we would be grateful if the GSB Trustees would join us in mediation to restore our fellowship to wholeness, guided by a loving Higher Power as expressed in the group conscience. Please read the attached motion, and RSVP to our invitation to mediate via email by December 5, 2021.

Signed in gratitude for the UA Fellowship,

UA World Service Conference 2021 Voting Body

UA WSC-Approved Committees (GSRC, PTC, LitC, WSCPC)

Trustees Elected at the WSC 2021

¹ Tradition Two: “For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God
as is expressed in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants, they do not govern.”

GSB, GSRs, WSC

Oct News from WSC

October 28, 2021November 28, 2021 uagsrc

There is a page on the uawsc.org website which is titled “Timeline to WSC 2021” located in the footer of each page of the site. Jessica in upstate NY, who is the Chair of the 2021 World Service Convention (WSC) has emailed me (John) saying: “I think it would be pretty amazing if there was a really visible link on the GSRC website pointing to that page.” So, below is what it says there for the month of Oct. 2021.

OCTOBER 2021

10/02/21 A UA member paid for and donated the uawsc.org domain name to WSCPC.

10/4/21 GSB sends email saying:

“UA groups, their members, and the GSB Committees should be aware that they are neither contributing to, nor participating in, an official UA event if they attend the proposed 2021 World Service Conference.

The UAGSB cannot legally participate in the proposed 2021 World Service Conference (WSC), nor engage with the World Service Conference Planning Committee (WSCPC), because they are now operating outside of UA’s legal parameters. UAGSB Committee members who attend cannot speak on behalf of their committee’s work at this unauthorized event because they serve at the guidance of the UAGSB……..

Opening and operating a separate bank account for the WSC has placed the 2021 WSC and the 2021 WSCPC outside of the legal structure of Underearners Anonymous, Inc. Therefore they are now outside enterprises.”

— [UA GSO] From the UA General Service Board of Trustees UA GSB, INC Sunday, October 3, 2021

10/10/21 UA GSRC voted to add the WSCPC as a temporary subcommittee of the GSRC once again until voted on as a World Service Conference approved committee. This places the WSC 2021 as an official UA event.

10/11/21 GSRC sends response to GSB stating voted to make the WSCPC a subcommittee and will put on conference as a UA Conference approved committee.

10/24/21 UA GSB announces during board meeting and sends email with legal statement to GSRs – they have sought counsel with the New York Council of NonProfits.

“NYCON has advised the UAGSB that the GSRC must be considered an outside enterprise because it is operating outside the Non-Profit Laws of New York State and the UA Bylaws.

NYCON has further advised the UAGSB to cease any more interaction with these outside enterprises, lest we put in legal jeopardy UA’s certificate of incorporation, and non-profit status.”

As a follow-up to the above, please check out the following Responses to the Oct. 24th GSB Letter as well as the below video on how the fellowship should work.

GSB, WSC

What is the “G” in GSR?

October 26, 2021November 28, 2021 uagsrc 4 Comments

Have you ever noticed that some identify the initials GSR as Group Service Representatives and others use General Service Representatives. I thought I’d check out why.

I found a quote from an AA GSR Handbook (pg. 74) which I believe gives the answer:

All “Group Service Representatives” were entitled to one vote each. (That is what GSR’s were called at that time, and the change to General Service Representatives did not evolve until sometime later.)

That probably explains why it is that when I did a search on the AA website for the phrase “General Service Representatives”, it yielded 163 results, whereas when I entered “Group Service Representatives”, it yielded only 3 results, two of which also defined GSR as General Service Representatives.

But could it be that UA has decided to opt for the original term (where G=Group)? Maybe so that it is not confused with GSB or the GSO, for which the “G” is for General? Not according to the following quotes from UA resources, where the “G” in GSR is for General:

In our 2016 UA By-Laws it reads on pg. 5:
Candidates for Class A Trustee will whenever possible be drawn from UA members who have attended at least one UA World Service Conference as a group’s General Service Representative.

More recently (in the Oct 2021 Motion to Approve the WSC Charter of UA), it reads on page 1:
“The Term of Office of General Service Representatives (GSRs): The recommended term of
office for a General Service Representative is one to two years duration. The GSR may be
reelected and serve for up to six years total.”
And on page 6, it again reads:
“After the close of the World Service Conference or Special Convocation, the Recording Secretary(s) will draft the Minutes of the proceedings, to be supplied to all General Service Representatives and Trustees for their review and suggested corrections.”

There are more references I could cite, but these are sufficient to show why the GSRC Website Subcommittee decided to stick with having the “G” stand for General rather than Group on our website, although you may still find the term “Group Service Representatives” in some of our PDF documents, such as our Fundraising Strategies Packet v9.

Posted by John N (Arizona) – GSRC Webmaster

GSRs