German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said on Wednesday that employees were not yet convinced about plans for Germany's Thyssenkrupp and India's Tata Steel to merge and added that all affected parties needed to accept any deal.
Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel struck a preliminary deal on Wednesday to merge their European steel operations in a 50-50 joint venture to create the continent's No.2 steelmaker after ArcelorMittal.
"The employees are not yet convinced about this decision and they are very concerned about job losses," Zypries said in an emailed statement.
"It's not conceivable that there could be a sustainable solution that goes against the will of the employees and the company management needs to know that," Zypries added.