A major union this week called on Morgan Stanley to reverse recent salary hikes for senior executives and other top earners, the Wall Street Journal said citing a letter from the union.

The raises weakened the link between top executive pay and performance, wrote Gerald McEntee, international president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in a letter to Morgan Stanley, provided to the paper.

We urge you to return base salaries to their previous levels and reward executives for long-term value creation, not just showing up for work.

AFSCME members' pension funds have more than $1 trillion in assets and hold roughly 3 percent of Morgan Stanley's outstanding shares, according to the paper.

Last month, Morgan Stanley raised the base salaries of certain senior officers to $800,000, but said it does not plan to raise total compensation.

Morgan Stanley, which became a bank-holding company last year, raised the base salaries for five of its senior officers, including its chief financial officer but said Chief Executive John Mack's base salary will not change.

Morgan Stanley and representatives at the union could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.

(Reporting by Chakradhar Adusumilli in Bangalore; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)

Investment Morgan Stanley