Majority of Commerzbank employees against merger with Deutsche Bank

Some 83 per cent of Commerzbank employees opposes a merger with Deutsche Bank, according to an internal survey seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The poll results are preliminary and come during the fifth week of merger talks between the two German lenders.

Employees have until May 3 to voice their opinion in the poll conducted by the works council representing the bank's headquarters. Commerzbank declined to comment. The opposition at Commerzbank is fiercer than at Deutsche Bank, where a similar survey showed nearly 70 per cent were against a tie-up. Unions have said that a merger could result in the loss of 30,000 jobs.

"Distance yourselves from the merger plans," Commerzbank's works council wrote in an open email to the bank's management board with the survey results.