UAW membership declined in 2007

DETROIT, March 28 (UPI) -- United Auto Workers membership dropped by more than 70,000 in 2007 as the U.S. auto industry shed jobs and the union failed to find new converts.

The 14 percent drop, a loss of 73,538 members, was slightly less than the 75,500 auto and auto parts industry jobs lost in 2006, the Detroit Free Press reported Friday. UAW membership peaked at 1.5 million in the 1970s, but dwindled to 464,910 by the end of 2007, the newspaper said.

The union has found new members in the auto dealership and casino industries, but has only organized workers at one foreign-owned auto plant, a Volkswagen dacility in Pennsylvania that folded 20 years ago, the Free Press said.

UAW revenues are up 8 percent, however, reaching $327.6 million in 2007, the report said.