Argentine court orders Trewelyn to pay Esquel casino staff March wages

A court in Argentina has granted two applications brought by the Sindicato de Empleados de Comercio (SEC) on behalf of dismissed workers of the Casino de Esquel and ordered the operator, Trewelyn S.A., to pay outstanding March wages and 50% of the severance it had offered, with the corresponding adjustments and interest, according to the union's legal adviser. The payments have yet to be made under the deadlines and conditions set by the court.

Nadia Cabrera, legal adviser to the SEC, said the ruling on the March wages is final. Trewelyn must pay those wages within two days of the settlement becoming final, she said. The measure covers the workers who confirmed that the union represented them in the amparo action; other former employees are pursuing claims with independent legal representation.

In a second ruling, the court granted a measure requiring payment of 50% of the severance Trewelyn had offered under article 247 of the Labour Contract Law, which provides for a reduced severance payment in certain circumstances of force majeure or lack or reduction of work. According to Cabrera, the company had not yet made that payment. The ruling orders payment of the percentage with updating, interest and the applicable notice months.

Cabrera said accepting the 50% payment does not prevent workers from claiming the remaining amount through individual labour lawsuits, in which the justification for the dismissals and the possibility of obtaining severance equivalent to that for dismissal without cause will be argued.

The venue closed on 25 March 2026, leaving about 50 workers dismissed. The claims are proceeding alongside a process run by Lotería del Chubut to award the administration and operation of a casino and an adjoining hall in Esquel. The public tender documents require the future concessionaire to take on the roughly 50 workers dismissed after the closure gradually, in line with the new establishment's operating needs and the start of operations.

The former employees submitted their own document to Lotería del Chubut authorities expressing their wish to continue working at the casino once the new concession is awarded. Reopening still faces constraints: the building where the previous casino operated is subject to an embargo in the labour claims, and adapting another property could extend the timetable for resuming operations.