Martinsa Fadesa could cut a third of jobs-union

MADRID, June 19 (Reuters) - Spanish property company Martinsa Fadesa SA (MFAD.MC) is looking to cut up to a third of its workforce, a union said on Thursday, as the housing market undergoes a sharp slowdown after a decade-long boom.

The Comisiones Obreras union said job cut plans, which could affect up to 300 of 880 staff, were unjustified.

A company source said Martinsa Fadesa would start talks with unions about job cuts next week, but would not confirm the Comisiones Obreras union estimate of reductions.

There was no definite number as yet, the source said, apart from 60 or 70 jobs in the northern region of Galicia.

"It's a nationwide reorganisation to adjust to new sector circumstances, which have worsened," he said.

In common with other property companies, Martinsa Fadesa has been hurt by the deterioration of the Spanish real estate market which has seen a huge fall in property sales.

The company posted first quarter net losses of 85 million euros ($132 million) in May, shortly after announcing it had refinanced 4 billion euros of debt.

Its shares closed 1.2 percent lower on Thursday at 16.5 euros, giving the company a market value of around 1.6 billion euros, less than half its debt load. (Reporting by Clara Vilar, Writing by Sonya Dowsett; editing by Rory Channing)