State of the Union March 30, 2010

 The Community Services committee will be putting Easter baskets together after first shift today in the cafeteria. Anyone who wants to help is welcome. Thanks to body shop for collecting $317 for baskets.
•    From the Detroit Free Press: The ranks of UAW members fell to a new post-World War II low in 2009 as the bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler led to thousands of manufacturing job losses. According to its annual report filed with federal overseers Monday, the UAW had 355,191 members at the end of 2009, a loss of 75,846 members, or 18%, from the 431,037 it reported at the end of 2008. The union's net assets shrank by $69 million to $1.12 billion. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger was paid $173,065 in salary and other compensation, a slight decrease from the $174,098 he received in 2008. The union's overhead costs fell slightly, as did its political lobbying, to $9.7 million from $10.6 million in 2008.
•    From the Detroit News: The U.S. Transportation Department will launch two major investigations to discover whether vehicle electronics or electromagnetic interference are to blame for unintended vehicle acceleration incidents. The investigations, one by the National Academy of Sciences and the other with the help of the NASA, will help get to the bottom of the issue, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in an interview with The Detroit News Monday. "Many members of Congress think it's electronics and I heard enough of that -- not only from members but from Toyota drivers ... and so we felt we really needed to get outside experts," LaHood said. "We are tapping the best minds around."
•    The UAW plans to offer for sale all of its 362 million warrants for FordMotor Co. stock today -- a move that could generate about $1.3 billion for the union's retiree health care trust fund. The stock warrants constitute an 11 percent ownership in Ford. Ford issued the warrants to the UAW in December to help cover its obligation to the Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association. Ford will receive no proceeds from the transaction, nor will the UAW's gains reduce the automaker's remaining obligations, about $7 billion, to the VEBA.