RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
NPR's business news starts with General Motors big new buyout plan.
After reaching a deal with the United Autoworkers, GM says it will offer buyout packages to 74,000 of its unionized hourly workers. It will replace many of those workers with lower-paid employees. It's the biggest buyout offer since 2006. The company's trying to cut costs and shrink its oversized North American operations. General Motors is still the world's biggest carmaker, but it's still struggling to become profitable. The company, today, announced quarterly losses and the biggest annual loss in its history - though most of last year's nearly nine billion dollar loss comes from a one-time tax charge. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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