Private equity funds, which globally dispose of some USD 2.5 trillion in uninvested 'dry powder', are preparing to scoop up bankrupt firms and extract gain from the coronavirus wreckage. At the same time, many governments are tossing financial orthodoxy overboard in search of a path to recovery. Now is the moment for labour to push for public investment vehicles, backed by central bank guarantees, to support sustainable jobs and the transition to a low-carbon economy, and cut the umbilical cord linking workers' futures to junk bond billionaires.