Explore the issues
Find more information on the issues deeply affected by private equity investments:
CBS’ 60 Minutes Investigates Private Equity’s Impact on Democracy: “Local newsrooms strained by budget-slashing financial firms”
60 Minutes reported how hedge funds and other financial firms – including private equity – now own nearly a third of the daily newspapers in the US. These new owners “are often committed not to headlines and deadlines, but to…
Video: Cheesecake Factory Workers and Private Equity Firm Roark Capital
More Perfect Union’s latest video shows when private equity firms come in, workers can suffer. Cheesecake Factory workers spoke with More Perfect Union, describing their working conditions when their employer was owned by private equity firm Roark Capital. The…
Counterpunch: From the Kingpins of Private Equity, A New Dagger to Democracy
Institute for Policy Studies associate fellow Sam Pizzigati asked if democracy in the United States could be disappearing and called the private equity industry a danger to American democracy. Counterpunch, February 22, 2022: From the Kingpins of Private Equity,…
IPE: US union, non-profit request UN PRI Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) delist private equity firm PAI Partners
IPE reported on the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America’s (UE) and PESP’s letter to UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) chief executive officer David Atkin, by describing how PAI Partners’ portfolio company Refresco is engaged in union-busting…
United Electrical Workers, Private Equity Stakeholder Project Seek Delisting of PAI Partners from UN Principles for Responsible Investment over Labor, Environmental Violations
The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) and the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) sent a letter to the PRI Board of Directors requesting the delisting of PAI Partners after the private equity firm and PRI…
Why Do So Many Private Equity-Owned Companies Pay Less Than $15 Per Hour?
The Fight for $15 began ten years ago with mass strikes by workers at McDonald’s and other fast-food companies in multiple cities across the U.S. Since then, the $15 minimum wage has gained an enormous amount of traction and has…
Private Equity Firm Sycamore Partners’ Brands Must Ensure Garment Workers Receive $7.8 Million in Unpaid Compensation
Private Equity Firm Sycamore Partners’ Brands Must Ensure Garment Workers Receive $7.8 Million in Unpaid Compensation The clothing store chains Lane Bryant and Torrid are portfolio brands of private equity firm Sycamore Partners.[1] The Brilliant Alliance Thai Global garment…
Private Equity Stakeholder Project Joins Senators Warren and Brown, AFL-CIO President Shuler and UMWA President Roberts Calling out the Role of Private Equity at Warrior Met Coal
Workers have been on strike in Alabama for nearly 10 months Since April 1, 2021, 900 mineworkers have been on strike after saving their employer more than $1 billion during and after its bankruptcy through cuts in pay, overtime,…
Inequality.org: A Smiling Sayanora from Private Equity’s Pioneers
Inequality.org reviewed the damages caused by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, the billionaire founders of KKR, “America’s first nationally celebrated “private equity” giant” as they step down as the company’s co-CEOs. According to Inequality.org, Kravis’ and Roberts’ KKR portfolio currently…
Workers Strike, Demanding Dignity and Respect from Private Equity-Owned Bojangles Restaurants
Right before the Thanksgiving holiday, Bojangles restaurant workers in Burnsville, NC, participated in their second action against private equity-owned Bojangles. They began a week-long strike on November 23 against their employer’s mishandling of COVID cases and also for…
Health and Safety Issues Continue to Plague PAI Partners-owned Bottling Company
Private equity firm PAI Partners prides itself on its responsible investing and on its stated concern for environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. However, the business practices of its portfolio company Refresco directly contradict PAI Partners’ ESG policy. In…
