Here’s why protesters led by the Service Employees International Union are planning to camp out on the doorstep of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s New York headquarters today.

The union aims to organize 100 protests in 25 countries, including the offices of KKR, the private-equity firm run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, as well as at companies controlled by KKR in the U.S. and abroad, as part of a campaign for higher taxes on buyout firms.

The SEIU, the fastest-growing U.S. labor group, said leveraged buyouts harm workers by cutting jobs and benefits while the firms make billions by selling target companies or taking them public. KKR said it has created jobs at holdings including Toys R Us Inc. and Duracell International Inc.

The union has staged protests in the past year at office buildings and during speeches given by executives including David Rubenstein, co-founder of Washington-based Carlyle Group. The union, headed by Andrew Stern, seized on the last year's run of record-setting deals to press lawmakers for higher tax rates on LBO firms' share of gains made by buying and selling companies.

"All over the world people are stepping up and saying something's wrong in the global economy," Stephen Lerner, who heads the SEIU's private-equity effort, said in an interview. "There's a growing feeling that no matter how bad or good the economy is doing, the buyout guys are getting rich."

KKR said in a statement that it was committed to increasing jobs and addressing issues including the environment.

"We disagree with the SEIU's distortion of the facts and their street theater approach," KKR said in the e-mailed statement. "We work hard to build better companies that benefit multiple stakeholders -- including the millions of pension beneficiaries who receive good returns on our investments."

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