The Casino of Gualeguaychú, located in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos and operated by the company Newtronic, remains closed to the public due to a lack of electrical power and a strike carried out by its workers over unpaid wages.
According to local media, Newtronic failed to comply with the outstanding payments of the Electric Cooperative’s invoices, which resulted in the power supply being cut off by the energy company. The same is said to have been repeated in venues in the Entre Ríos cities of Colón, Nogoyá, and San Salvador.
In addition to this, the delegate of the Argentine Republic’s Union of Gambling, Entertainment, Leisure, Recreation and Related Workers (ALEARA), Gabriela Luna, reported that the casino employees have not received their April salary, for which reason they have initiated an indefinite strike.
She added that the workers have been “receiving their salaries in installments for 11 months” and that no representative of Newtronic has given them an answer about the April salary. “We had up to four payments, but now it’s been 15 days and no one is informing us when the salary will be paid,” she lamented.
In a letter addressed to the Institute of Financial Aid for Social Action (IAFAS), the regulatory entity of Entre Ríos, the employees indicated that “this abandonment not only affects direct and indirect workers, but also the prestige and operation of a space that is part of the tourist and cultural heritage of the city.”
“All this is happening without clear answers or concrete actions from the provincial authorities of IAFAS, nor from the current local management of the casino, which has been in charge for more than 15 years without offering solutions or assuming the responsibility that corresponds to it,” they accused.
“We make an urgent call to the authorities of IAFAS, the Provincial Government, and the political representatives of our city to take action on the matter. We cannot continue waiting while the labor rights of those who, with commitment and vocation, sustain one of the most emblematic spaces in Gualeguaychú are violated,” the letter concludes.
