Federal judge approves Ford healthcare trust

A federal judge has approved a trust fund set up by Ford Motor Co. that will cover about 200,000 UAW-represented Ford retirees and their surviving spouses in the United States. The United Auto Workers will pay retiree healthcare bills for union members. Federal judges approved similar agreements between the UAW and General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC earlier this year. All three automakers are scheduled to shift their retiree healthcare obligations to the voluntary employees beneficiary association funds on Jan. 1, 2010.