Curbs on private equity urged

Veröffentlicht: 24 April 2007
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Frank Bsirske



Philip Jennings presenting flowers during conference

 Measures to curb the impact of private equity groups and hedge funds on working people have been urged by UNI-Europa President Frank Bsirske.

The effects of what are seen in Germany as economic “locusts” have been fuelled by historically low interest rate debt and the ability of funds to dump those debts on the companies they are buying.

UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings highlighted the very recent Macquarie Bank takeover of UK emergency radio network provider Airwave and its decision within 50 minutes of clinching the deal to close the employees’ pension fund without any consultations.

Frank told a UNI-Europa press conference that specific steps need to be taken to control the funds.

These include:

1 Moves to increase the cost of the borrowings that are fuelling the buyout spree of private equity groups and hedge funds.

2 Restrict the ability of those funds to burden the victim companies with the leveraged debt.

3 Put a halt to the practice of early withdrawals of dividends from bought companies (sometimes paid for by additional debt).

“No company in Greece is safe and no job in Greece is safe from these marauders,” Philip told journalists. Global and European unions will be raising the issue with G8 leaders in June.

He also attacked the Greek government’s decision to shut down 13 bank supplementary pension schemes to merge them into the general public pension fund - a move condemned by the International Labour Organisation as a unilateral breach of collective agreements.