Ford Motor Co (F.N) Chief Executive Alan Mulally has agreed to take a 30 percent salary cut for this year and next, the CEO and executive chairman Bill Ford said in a memo to employees on Tuesday.



The announcement to employees in a memorandum obtained by Reuters came the day after the United Auto Workers agreed to allow Ford to make up to half its contribution to a union-aligned trust for retiree healthcare in company stock.



The automaker has said the agreement to allow a portion of the payments to the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association trust in stock, and other union concessions, would level the field with the U.S. operations of Ford's Japanese competitors.



Ford's board agreed to forego all cash compensation for 2009 and Bill Ford agreed to take a 30 percent salary reduction for 2009 and 2010 along with Mulally, the memo said.



Bill Ford's total compensation has been and will continue to be set aside and not paid until its global auto operations return to profitability, the memo said.



The automaker also said that performance bonuses for global salaried employees and senior executives for 2009 would be eliminated. Those would have been paid in March 2010.