SEIU Launches Global Campaign to Close Tax Loopholes for the Ultra-Wealthy

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, June 4 /PRNewswire/ --

As the global economy worsens, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) joined by union leaders from Europe, India, Africa, Asia, Australia and South America launched a global campaign directed at world leaders and legislators protesting the special treatment and tax loopholes for private equity firms like KKR, whose risky debt-laden deals have helped throw the economy into free fall.

SEIU announced that on July 17 outreach to more than 10 million people worldwide will include demonstrations in 100 cities and 25 countries and they will gather petitions directed to legislators that say, "Support the fight to take back the economy and pledge to close tax loopholes that feed the greed of the buyout industry." MoveOn.Org is also joining the campaign. Activists have already committed to staging actions in 100 cities in North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, including Tokyo, Paris, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Mexico City.

KKR spent more than two million dollars last year on lobbying, including to defeat legislation that would have closed a lucrative tax loophole for hedge fund managers and buyout kings such as Henry Kravis, the KKR principal. Kravis made US$51,000 an hour in 2006 by buying and flipping companies, often at the expense of taxpayers or workers who lost their jobs. Yet, despite his vast income, he pays a lower tax rate on much of his investment profit than nurses and teachers pay on their salaries.

"The responsibility to create a healthy world economy is shared by all," said Andrew L. Stern, president of SEIU, "and that means companies like KKR have a responsibility that extends beyond making a few people rich."

"Buyout companies make millions from buying and selling companies and risking workers jobs across the globe. That's why we need global action from workers in response," said Philip Jennings, general secretary of the Geneva-based UNI global union.

Comedian Lewis Black, of the Famed "Daily Show" on television, kicked off the campaign with the launch of a short video that takes on Henry Kravis and the special treatment and tax breaks that have helped to make him one of the richest people in the world while the income gap continues to grow. The video can be viewed at www.july17action.org.

SEIU represents 2 million workers in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

Web site: http://www.seiu.org

 

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