Union said demanding HBOS-Lloyds merger protect jobs

LONDON (Reuters) - A trade union demanded on Sunday that the government impose stringent conditions on the merger of HBOS HBOS.L with Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L) to protect staff from widespread redundancies, the Guardian reported on Monday.

Union officials fear the banks may lay off more than 10,000 staff within months of the merger unless they are forced to be more transparent about their plans, the paper said.

Unions are concerned that the banks will seek widespread redundancies as a rapid route to profitability, it added.

Officials of Accord, an independent union that represents HBOS employees, said they did not oppose the acquisition in principle but were not convinced that it was in the interests of HBOS employees, customers and communities, especially if speculation of 14,000 to 40,000 job cuts proved to be correct, the Guardian said.

Details about job cuts among the 140,000-strong combined staff have yet to be released but the management has promised cost synergies of 1 billion pounds.

(Reporting by Ben Deighton, editing by Tim Pearce)