A US service workers' union provoked the private equity debate with a new report calling for greater accountability by buyout firms, echoing outcry by European counterparts who have warned that private investors threaten jobs.

The Service Employees International Union published a report, "Behind the Buyouts: Inside the world of public equity," analysing five buyouts as examples of corporate restructuring failing to increase returns, creating a crushing debt burden for the company and retirement insecurity for workers.