The Teamsters were out in semi-force on Tuesday morning, protesting a speaking appearance by KKR partner Alex Navab at the PEA Outlook conference in New York City. A bit of jeering, but mostly just handing out one-sheets about how KKR portfolio company Dollar General shouldn’t win any Employer of the Year awards. This is what they looked like (except in yellow):

STRAT_KKR Private Inequities

For a moment, let’s leave aside the unintentional comedy of blaming KKR for giving private equity a bad name (as if PE’s rep would be sterling if not for Henry Kravis and company). Instead, let’s focus on the lead allegations.

A labor union is criticizing KKR for stripping too much value out of Dollar General, as part of the retailer’s proposed IPO. No, not the SEIU (that’s so 2008), but rather the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The Teamsters last week sent a letter to KKR, expressing concerns over the dividend and fees that KKR and fellow shareholder Goldman Sachs will pay themselves via the IPO. The letter also raises issues such as Dollar General’s ability to repay its debt (in light of expansion plans and the company’s perceived counter-cyclicality), executive compensation, board structure and possible regulatory risks related to OSHA compliance.

I spoke with a couple union execs yesterday, who said this is an investment issue rather than a labor issue. After all, it isn’t like Teamsters are manning the cash registers (quite the image).

More specifically, most Teamster pension funds invest a majority of their assets in public equities – and the parent group wants to warn those sub-investment managers of possible pitfalls to investing in the Dollar General IPO, in particular, and private equity-backed IPOs in general (which the Teamsters correctly sense are increasing in volume). I asked if this is the beginning

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters last week sent a letter to buyout firm KKR, expressing concerns about the proposed IPO of KKR portfolio company Dollar General. The union suggests that it would consider Dollar General as a pension investment, but not until it receives more information on issues like debt repayment, executive compensation and possible regulatory risks related to OSHA compliance.

Copy of the letter after the jump…