Fresh fears over the takeover of steel maker Corus have been raised after its chairman said there were no guaranteed jobs.
Ratan Tata, chairman of Indian buyer Tata Group, said his plan was to make the company's UK operations more profitable.
Unions fear this could mean some of the 24,000 people employed in the UK, at sites including Scunthorpe, Rotherham and Port Talbot, will face redundancy. They have called for urgent talks with the new owners to discuss an investment strategy for the giant.
Interviewed by the Financial Times, Mr Tata said the company paid very close to its top price for Corus. The final price tag was £6.7 billion.
Asked to guarantee no job cuts, he said: "I wouldn't even attempt to do so because it would be wrong of me to give those assurances or to deny that that was so. But I would say that we are not a company to look first at jobs."
Tata won a bidding war for the Anglo-Dutch firm earlier this week, creating the world's fifth-largest steel group, capable of producing 24 million tonnes a year.
It beat off Brazilian rival CSN in an auction organised by the Takeover Panel, but ended up paying 33% more than its first offer in October.
The overseas acquisition was the largest ever made by an Indian firm and has ignited a wave of patriotism on the subcontinent. Keith Hazlewood, GMB national secretary, said he feared the bidding war pushed the price too high.
He said: "We hope they are not going to try and recoup it back by a lack of investment in the UK and in UK jobs. That is the fear we have.
"There is one thing you can rest assured: if they are going to come in and start trying to cut jobs they are going to have a fight on their hands. The trade unions will work with them to try and make it successful, but not at the expense of our member's jobs."
