Export orders decline leads to lay offs

Lloyd Shoes, operating from Xewkija industrial estate, is to lay off 18 workers after the company faced dwindling export orders from Germany, the General Workers' Union said yesterday.

The GWU's secretary of the manufacturing and small enterprises section, Roberto Cristiano, had held meetings with the company about the situation at the start of this year. The two sides had agreed to see how things would work out with the employees coming in on a four-day week but the situation did not improve at all, the union said.

The GWU section will be ensuring that the company adheres to the provisions of the collective agreement. The section will be calling on the government to discuss the deteriorating situation in the shoes and clothing manufacturing sector.