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Ver.di stressed that it is not acceptable that Landesbanken have made billions of losses through speculation and as result thousands of bank employees are fired. It is not the meployees but the executives who are responsible for this mismanagement. Governments have a special responsibility for the jobs since Landesbanken are publicly owned companies.



While governments discussed the formation of bad banks and changes in the business model, including a reduction of activities by 50%, nothing was said on saving jobs. "This is irresponsible," says ver.di's Uwe Foullong. "A mega merger into one Landesbank is social and economic madness." Moreover, in the reform process it must be ensured that the savings banks (Sparkassen) are not weakened. They have shown to be exceptionally stable in these times of financial crisis.



Ver.di also noted the past approach of the European Commission to demand changes to the business model of public banks under the pretext of competition. This led to job losses and the German government should question the role of the Commission critically.



For the full press release in German, see related articles.