Last September, Siemens and Alstom agreed to merge their rail operations, creating a European champion to challenge the advance of China's state-owned CRRC .
The merger has been backed by both the German and French governments, and Alstom said this month it was making good progress on the deal, as it reported higher sales.Nevertheless, a joint statement on Tuesday from the CFDT, CFE-CGC, CGT and FO trade unions said that all four feared Siemens could do restructuring at the new, combined entity, which could result in later job cuts - hence their opposition.Earlier this month, Alstom boss Henri Poupart-Lafarge said he expected a July shareholders meeting to approve the Siemens deal.The new company, with more than 62,000 employees, is targeting synergies of 470 million euros ($584 million) four years at the latest after the closing of the deal, which is expected at the end of 2018.($1 = 0.8053 euros) (Reporting by Gilbert Reilhac; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)