Outrage over Yanko closure plan

UNIONS representing hundreds of employees of the troubled Majorcan shoe company, Yanko, are taking legal action against the company's directors after they announced last week that Yanko's two factories on the island in Inca and Llucmajor would close down. Up to 200 people are expected to be made redundant and the workforce slashed on the island to a mere 25. The UGT union claims that the employees of the company have been misled by management. The UGT union, in their legal action, accuse various company directives of fraudulent activities.
Yanko, which is now owned by a mainland company, announced that they would be closing down their two factories on the island, and moving production elsewhere. The announcement came as a major blow for the island's long suffering shoe industry which has seen hundreds of jobs lost in the last few years as companies battle against cheap imports from the Far East. Yanko was once one of the flagships of the Balearic footwear industry exporting shoes across the globe. Their factory in Inca was one of the most modern in Spain. The Balearic government has so far refused to make any comment over the Yanko situation although they have said that the loss of 190 jobs on the island will be an important blow to the local economy.