Belo to cut salaries, freeze pensions

AH Belo, the parent company of the Riverside Press-Enterprise and Dallas Morning News, announced today that starting May 1 it will cut the salaries of all workers making over $25,000 and eliminate annual pension contributions for 2009.

According to the memo from CEO Richard Decherd, salary cuts will made on a sliding scale:

$25,000 and under 0 %
$25,001 - $74,999 2.5 %
$75,000 - $102,499 5.0 %
$102,500 - $149,999 7.5 %
$150,000 - $225,000 10 %
Over $225,000 15 %

As the New York Times did when it announced pay cuts last week, Belo will "give" employees days off in exchange for the smaller paycheck. But the company calls the unpaid a "cushion" rather than a furlough:

Our hope is to restore most or all of these cuts for impacted employees at some time in the future, as business conditions permit. To cushion the impact of the wage cuts, all impacted employees will receive three additional personal days per calendar year, effective at the time of the salary reductions.

Belo expects to save $16 million annually between the pension freeze and the salary cuts. Read the full memo from Decherd here.