UPDATE 1-Thyssenkrupp steel workers face shortened work hours from April -labour boss

* Management has announced production cuts

* Independent future of steel unit requires cash injection

* Steel mergers currently not an issue (Adds detail from works council head)

DUESSELDORF, March 18 (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp's steel workers will be put on shortened working hours next month, a labour boss said on Friday, a day after the conglomerate flagged such a move in response to the impact of the war on Ukraine on its business.

"Short-time work will come in April," said Tekin Nasikkol, who heads the works council of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe and also sits on Thyssenkrupp's supervisory board, adding automotive customers, its single biggest market, were ordering less.

"This is hitting us directly. Management has announced that production will be reduced."

Thyssenkrupp earlier this week suspended its cash flow outlook and said it was currently not possible to spin off its steel division, citing the impact of the war in Ukraine on its business.

This includes supply chain disruptions as well as higher raw material and energy prices that Thyssenkrupp said was dealing blows to its steel and automotive divisions.

Nasikkol said an independent set-up of Thyssenkrupp's steel unit, Europe's second-largest, required the right framework conditions and should include a financial injection to help it stand on its own feet.

A tie-up with a rival was difficult due to strict antitrust regulation in Europe, Nasikkol said. "At the moment mergers are not an issue," he said.

Thyssenkrupp in recent years looked into potential deals for its steel division, including a merger with the European division of India's Tata Steel, which fell apart due to antitrust problems.

A subsequent takeover approach from Britain's Liberty Steel also collapsed.

Nasikkol said he supported the idea of the government taking a stake in Thyssenkrupp's steel business, a scenario that has been mentioned repeatedly by the Social Democrats in North Rhine-Westphalia, where the company is based. (Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff; writing by Christoph Steitz; editing by Thomas Escritt and Jason Neely)