Newtronic, active in the province, is the target of criticism from collaborators.
Argentina.- Workers from Newtronic, responsible for operating slot machine rooms in the province of Entre Ríos, have started a protest demanding payment of overdue wages. The employees voiced their discontent through Radio Máxima, announcing that they will maintain a state of permanent assembly and halt activities starting at 7 PM "until the company pays 100 percent of the salaries".
Newtronic operates between 10 and 12 casino rooms in various cities of Entre Ríos. It has approximately 200 employees, nearly 100 of whom work at its main headquarters, located in Gualeguaychú, the company's largest and most significant room.
One of the workers, identified as Ricardo, explained that the protest is due to the constant delays in salary payments. "If we don't make the claim, the company does not pay us on time, which causes personal problems such as delays in child support payments and legal embargoes, affecting the well-being of each employee. Payments usually arrive almost a month late, but this year it has been a recurring problem," he stated.
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For its part, the company has responded that "it does not have sufficient funds to pay the salaries". From 7 PM, the workers began not to attend to the public, extending the protest to employees from other cities like Colón, Nogoyá, Tala, and Villa Elisa.
In their statement, the workers emphasized that "the operational cost of the company must be covered, and within those costs are the employees' salaries. It is not fair for the worker to bear the losses or costs that the company cannot cover". The protest will continue until the company fulfills the owed payment.
Meanwhile, Ariel Fassione, national union secretary of the Union of Workers of Gambling, Entertainment, Recreation, and Related Activities (ALEARA), confirmed to R2820 that the assemblies will continue. "I was in Gualeguaychú and the rotating assemblies will continue," he affirmed.
Fassione explained that, after the temporary closure of the rooms ordered by the Institute of Financial Assistance for Social Action (IAFAS), the regulatory body of gambling, due to the lack of payment of the salary corresponding to October, the company finally paid the salaries. However, the union secretary pointed out that for the past six months the company has been claiming that it cannot comply with the payment on time, which led the union to call a strike. Although the company paid the salaries at noon on Friday, it did so without including the increases agreed for the month of October.
