Women, the great pillar of Majorica's history

For many years, Manacor, the capital of the Llevant of Mallorca, has been known colloquially as the city of pearls and furniture. Walking through Manacor meant listening to the sound of saws cutting wood in the many workshops spread throughout the city. Pearls required more meticulous, quieter work, and were normally relegated to the privacy of the home and to the women of Manacor .

Perleres de Manacor, the first women's strike in Spain

Since its inception in 1890, the creation of Majorica pearls has depended on the skilled hands of women . The factory opened in Manacor in 1902 and hired female workers to work both on and off the premises. At home, much of the work such as selecting, threading, tying knots, completing finishing tasks, etc. was done. It was thanks to their work that Majorica pieces were able to reach such a level of meticulousness. During its early stages, the workforce at Majorica was dominated by women (except for those in charge of the furnaces, who were men). Therefore, we can say that Majorica was a company largely supported and run by women.

Who were the triadores and comptadores ?

Shortly after the factory opened, a group of female employees stopped work in protest to demand better wages. A total of 75 of the 100 female workers present went on strike for two days, pushing for more honest pay practices among triadores and comptadores (sorters and accountants). Triadores and comptadores were not usually the youngest workers on the staff. Younger workers were generally required to perform more laborious and burdensome tasks that their older counterparts did not have to perform.

At that time, the action resulted in the loss of jobs for those responsible for implementing it. This was the demonstration of the Perleres Manacorines and it is probably the first strike orchestrated entirely by women in Spain.

Work-life balance

The well-being of its employees has been the company's top priority. So in the early 1960s, management opened a daycare center outside the factory but close enough for the convenience of mothers. About 25 female employees benefited from the service. It was one of the few companies that had set up such a service in unprecedented times.

For more than 130 years, women of different generations, grandmothers, mothers and daughters, have been part of Majorica . Today, it remains a predominantly female, family-run company, with a large proportion of workers who have family members within it, generation after generation.