Earlier this month, the Paris, France-based company posted a fourth-quarter net loss of 613m euros ($796m). At the time it blamed market uncertainty following the merger, the overall market decline especially in US carrier spending, and heightened competition.

In an effort to try and cut costs, CEO Patricia Russo said she would cut another 3,500 jobs on top of the 9,000 jobs cuts already announced.

Alcatel-Lucent then revealed that 1,468 positions in France would be cut by the end of 2008. But cutting jobs in France was never going to be easy, with French unions wary of US executive tactics to cut jobs in order to reduce costs.

In response to an employee representative’s request made late last week during the European Group Committee, Alcatel-Lucent said that in its willingness to deepen the dialogue with its social partners, it would convene a meeting of its European works council to discuss concerns about the restructuring. The meeting will take place on March 16.

The French equipment maker also confirmed its willingness to actively participate in the French government initiative to launch a workgroup on the future of telecom in Europe led by the French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.

It reaffirmed to the French Prime Minister that the French restructuring project would be based exclusively on volunteers with non-compulsory layoffs. It also said France remains a strategic center of R&D, especially in mobile broadband technologies, thanks to the acquisition of Nortel’s UMTS activity.

Speaking to Computer Business Review, a company spokesperson denied that this meant that the majority of job cuts would therefore occur in North America where flexible labor laws means getting rid of staff is much easier than in the heavily unionized workforces of France.

We will announce specific country numbers only after employees are notified and local guidance’s have been observed, he said. We have also said we will cut 870 positions in Germany, 140 in Belgium, and 180 in the Netherlands. Job losses are also expected in Spain and Italy.

However, he refused to be drawn as to whether the remaining job cuts would hit North America. We would not characterize it like that, he said. We have ongoing dialogs with various representatives.

Shares in the equipment maker fell 2.48% to $12.96 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.