Credit Suisse and UBS must freeze any job cuts planned as part of their emergency merger, the Swiss Bank Employees’ Association (SBPV) said on Tuesday, in an open letter to the country’s parliament.

SBPV Managing Director Natalia Ferrara has written to lawmakers to demand they consider staff affected by the collapse of Credit Suisse and halt any job losses until the end of 2023.

“We… call on you to support our demand for a freeze on layoffs by the end of 2023 in parliament. Politicians must not shirk their responsibility.” The Swiss parliament is due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the state-sponsored rescue of Credit Suisse.

“For the past three weeks, many of the approximately 17,000 employees at Credit Suisse and the 22,000 UBS employees have been looking at their future with uncertainty.” Credit Suisse employs 45,000 people globally, while UBS has 74,000 in total.

“In the public debate about the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS, there is a lot of talk about numbers, money, regulation, ‘too big to fail’ or bonuses,” wrote Ferrara, “But the affected employees of the two banks remain only a side note. That needs to change.” UBS has said it is too early to speculate on job cuts.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2023.

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