2024-09-21 03:57:30
The union is calling on the federal government to resist the Italian Unicredit. It fears that two thirds of the jobs at Germany’s second largest private bank will be cut.
The Verdi union and the general works council of Commerzbank are calling for resistance from the federal government to prevent a takeover by the Italian Unicredit. The federal government must work for a strong, independent Commerzbank, according to a joint statement by the employee representatives.
“The federal government must not sell any more shares in Commerzbank, but must clearly position itself in favor of maintaining Commerzbank as an independent institution, also and especially in the interests of the German economy,” demanded Verdi boss Frank Werneke.
If a deal with Unicredit is reached, two thirds of the jobs could be lost, said the chairman of the Commerzbank general works council, Uwe Tschäge, to the Bloomberg news agency. The federal government could prevent such a takeover. The deputy chairman of the Commerzbank supervisory board demanded that the federal government should not make hasty decisions on the sale of further Commerzbank shares.
At the end of June, Commerzbank reported that it had around 38,700 full-time positions worldwide, including more than 25,000 in Germany.
Unicredit took advantage of the federal government’s gradual exit from Commerzbank and surprisingly made a large-scale investment in the DAX-listed company. The Italians hold nine percent of the shares. This led to criticism of the federal government, which was apparently taken by surprise by Unicredit’s entry. The Federal Ministry of Finance now wants to explore the new situation. A lock-up period until the beginning of December applies to the possible sale of further Commerzbank shares.
According to Tschäge, the works councils want to hold staff meetings on the subject in October and November. There has so far been no direct exchange on the matter between the works council and politicians.