Carlyle Group Under Fire from International Employees' Union

On Monday, the Service Employees International Union announced that the big money partnership of the Government of Abu Dhabi and global buyout firm the Carlyle Group undercuts human rights.

In its 2006 United Arab Emirates (UAE) Country Report, the U.S. State Department said that government's "respect for human rights remained problematic". Furthermore, the report found that workers who strike can be deported, and the UAE's Ministry of Labor has issued a directive to ban employment of workers who instigate strikes.

The UAE has also been found guilty of human trafficking and the legalized abuse and rights violations of women.

In September, Carlyle announced that the Mubadala Development fund of the Government of Abu Dhabi paid $1.35 billion for a 7.5% ownership stake in Carlyle. Rising oil prices, the falling dollar, and political opportunism are fueling the efforts of enormous sovereign wealth funds, such as the UAE's $650 billion Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, to make increasing numbers of big deals, including buying stakes in leading American companies.

"As Carlyle profits and political connections grow Abu Dhabi's wealth and influence, pressure diminishes to improve human rights practices in the UAE. Carlyle's 'see-no-evil' approach to its business dealings with Abu Dhabi undermines efforts to improve respect for human rights there," said Stephen Lerner, Director of the SEIU Private Equity Project.

The Carlyle Group is a buyout firm based in Washington, D.C. It controls enormous sums of capital, employs or has employed some very high ranking U.S. government officials including former President George H.W. Bush, and formerly was invested in by the family of Osama Bin Laden--including during the time of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks against the U.S.

The Group's investments include a number of military contractors, a fact that does not sit well with people who take seriously late President Eisenhower's warning in the late 1950s before leaving office to watch out for the creation of a "military-industrial complex".

Carlyle has repeatedly come under fire for being too politically connected and for advancing "crony capitalism" on a major and even global scale.

"Crony capitalism" is a distortion of capitalism whereby business dealings become directed or influenced by political considerations and agendas, which often go against the best interests of the people, including a "crony" corporation's own non-officer shareholders. The ever-increasing lobbying efforts for the sake of special interests in Washington are seen as an egregious form of crony capitalism.

Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein recently told the press that the Middle East is just waiting for a basket of deals to happen, as strengthening GDP growth, a surging population, and the increase of capital there as the Middle East becomes more democratic shall make it an ideal place to invest in the near future.

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