Granja Tres Arroyos offers chicken as partial salary payment

Granja Tres Arroyos, Argentina’s leading poultry company, has proposed paying a portion of owed salaries in kind—specifically in boxes of chicken—to workers at its La Lonja plant in Pilar. This unusual offer comes amid a severe financial and productive crisis that has seen the group file for bankruptcy protection (concurso preventivo).

The company reported a debt of approximately $536,000 million as of late 2025, including significant liabilities to financial institutions, suppliers, and tax authorities. This financial instability has led to massive workforce reductions, with approximately 1,200 layoff notices sent in early September across plants in Capitán Sarmiento, Esteban Echeverría, and Pilar. Total group layoffs are estimated to exceed 1,700 in recent months.

Labor unions, including the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Alimentación (STIA) and the Unión Argentina de Trabajadores Rurales y Estibadores (UATRE), have engaged in negotiations under mandatory conciliation ordered by the Buenos Aires Ministry of Labor. While some palliative measures like partial cash payments and chicken deliveries have been discussed, the proposal to use poultry as a primary wage substitute has been met with criticism from labor representatives.