DALLAS and PROVIDENCE – Newspaper publisher A.H. Belo Corp. (NYSE: AHC) confirmed it is planning to reduce its company-wide work force by about 500 jobs. But Maribel Correa, A.H. Belo director of investor relations and corporate communications for A.H. Belo in Dallas, declined to specify how the cuts will affect The Providence Journal Co.

Correa told the Providence Business News on Jan. 30 that the staff reductions would apply to all elements of the A.H. Belo organization, including the Providence Journal, the Dallas Morning News in Texas, the Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif., and the Denton Record-Chronicle in Dallas/Fort Worth as well as the corporate offices in Dallas. “The reductions could potentially impact all of our operating units, and corporate,” she said.

The initial news of the downsizing came in a letter to employees from Robert W. Decherd, chairman, president and CEO of A.H. Belo Corp. The full text of that memo has been posted by The Poynter Institute – a nonprofit organization based in St. Petersburg, Fla., that is dedicated to promoting excellence in journalism – at poynter.org.

Meanwhile, the Providence Newspaper Guild – which represents about 400 employees at the Providence Journal – called on Decherd to give back the 140 percent pay raise he was granted in December.

“Such a move would save the company $350,000,” the union said in a newsletter that is also available online at www.riguild.org. “If he did this, Decherd would still be paid a quarter million dollars a year.” The request came in the form of a joint resolution adopted unanimously by the executive committee of the Providence Newspaper Guild and its Providence Unit Council.

Timothy Schick, administrator of the local Newspaper Guild, said this morning that he does not know yet how many jobs will be lost in Providence.

In his letter to employees – citing “the rapid deterioration of the economy” – Decherd said more details of the work force reductions will be made public by mid-February.

The A.H. Belo CEO also announced that the company will suspend its savings-plan match for employees, effective April 1, to save about $5.5 million annually and limit job losses. Attempts to talk to Decherd directly were not successful.

But according to the Providence Newspaper Guild, company officials have informed the union that all departments at the Journal – union and non-union – are likely to be affected by the reductions. At the start of the year, the company eliminated its 2 percent base contribution to employee 401(k) retirement accounts, and “the new change means the company will no longer pay any retirement contributions,” the union added.

In October, A.H. Belo announced it had renegotiated its line of credit and said it was freezing some salaries effective Nov. 1. (READ MORE) Other changes at non-union newspapers in Dallas and Riverside have included the imposition of parking fees and cuts in cell-phone allowances, according to the Providence Newspaper Guild. Both benefits are protected by the collective bargaining agreement in Providence, and therefore cannot be changed without negotiation, the union added.

In September, 22 employees of the Journal – in editorial, advertising and office positions – accepted voluntary buyouts; another 31 news employees lost their jobs the next month in involuntary layoffs. (READ MORE) Those job cuts were part of the elimination of 500 full-time equivalents (FTEs) companywide – or about 14 percent of the work force – that Decherd had announced in July.

Another cost-cutting move Decherd mentioned in July also is in the works: The sale of several A.H. Belo properties in Providence. In December, A.H. Belo announced that it is seeking buyers for several the Journal headquarters on Fountain Street and other local with a combined assessed value of $33.2 million. (READ MORE)

Decherd has been receiving an annual salary of $250,000, plus a potential performance bonus of as much as seven times his base pay. Effective Jan. 1, his base pay rose to $600,000 – a 140 percent hike. In exchange for that raise, he agreed to forego an anticipated 2008 bonus of $330,000. (READ MORE)

A.H. Belo Corp. (NYSE: AHC) owns and operates The Providence Journal, The Dallas Morning News, The Denton Record-Chronicle and The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif., and as well as a variety of specialty publications for the youth and Hispanic markets; the Web sites associated with its publications; and direct-mail and commercial printing businesses. For more information, visit www.AHBelo.com.