Richard Trumka, secretary/treasurer of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO), said that workers on the shop floor are familiar with the havoc private equity buy-outs can bring. Meanwhile, the earnings of the top 25 financial capitalists would pay the salaries of all New York’s 80,000 teachers for three years. “We hope that the AFL-CIO and the ETUC together can help to lead the international response,” he declared, adding that the American unions have called on the US Congress to introduce regulation.

Agnes Jongerius of the Dutch trade union federation FNV stressed that private equity threatens long-term value creation in the economy and in individual companies. These funds currently figure at the heart of every economic debate, she added, describing them as “the gorilla in the room”.

“What can trade unions do?” asked Raffaele Bonanni, General Secretary of the Italian confederation CISL. Regulation is urgently needed, or it will be workers who pay the bill. Trade unions have called on the G8 meeting in Germany in June to start preparing international regulatory reforms, including the right of workers to collective bargaining and information and consultation about company buy-outs.

The leader of the European Socialist Party Poul Nyrup Rasmussen described casino capitalism as the most important challenge facing the trade union movement for decades. Private equity companies are now the world’s biggest employers, giving work to more people than multinational firms. The 10 biggest deals in the last year were more valuable than the annual budget of Russia and India put together.