NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The United Auto Workers announced Saturday that they have reached a tentative agreement with Ford Motor Co. that would allow the struggling No. 2 car maker to save money on health care matters.

The union said it wouldn't disclose details of the agreement pending a meeting of its UAW-Ford (Research) council scheduled next week in Detroit. But givebacks, such as those recently negotiated with General Motors (Research), are clearly in the works at Ford -- which was reported by the Detroit News this week to be considering as many as 30,000 job cuts and 10 plant closings in an effort to stem recent losses.

"Like the UAW-GM health care agreement, this tentative agreement asks every UAW member, active and retired, to make sacrifices so that everyone can continue to receive excellent health care coverage today and in the future," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and Vice President Gerald Bantom said in a statement. "UAW-Ford workers and retirees have long enjoyed some of the best health care coverage of any industrial workers in America, and they will continue to do so under this agreement."

"Our goal in these discussions with Ford was to provide the best possible health care coverage and the strongest possible long-term protections for all UAW-Ford active workers, retirees and surviving spouses," the UAW officials said. "We believe this tentative agreement achieves that goal."

The UAW said the agreement is subject to ratification by UAW-Ford members and requires a court approval.

The News reported Wednesday that Ford will unveil its restructuring plan Jan. 23, which would include the departure of several top executives. Bantom told the paper that the union does not know the extent of Ford's planned cuts.

"We're hoping that nothing happens," said Bantom, who heads the UAW's Ford bargaining unit. "But we know that's not going to happen."

Over the past year, Ford's pretax profits in North America have fallen from almost $1.8 billion in the first nine months of 2004 to a loss of nearly $2.2 billion for the same period in 2005.

Reuters said a Ford spokesman could not be reached for immediate comment.

For more on GM's plans to close plants and cut staff, click here.