SWABI, May 2: Workers of Fauji Corn Complex (FCC) staged a protest demonstration here on Wednesday against the abrupt closure of their factory and vowed to launch a struggle for reopening of the factory or securing a ‘golden handshake’.

Local leaders of various political parties and labour organisations also reached the factory to assure them their support.

The protesting workers said that the factory was locked a day after the May Day, while sources quoted the management officials as saying that the factory was running into losses, which forced them to shut it down. The workers said that they had not been shown any notification about the closure of the factory.

They gathered at the two locked gates of the factory early in the morning and later blocked the Swabi-Jahangira road for a short time. However, they opened the road after local leaders of political parties reached the spot and assured them of support.

Politicians who visited them included Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan MNA Usman Khan Tarakai, MPA Sardar Ali, former district nazim Shahram Khan Tarakai, PPP-S district leader Abdul Karim, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf president Sohail Khan, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam leader Asad Zaman Sher, workers’ leader of Nowshera sheet glass factory Naseer Khattak, workers’ leader of Takht Bhai Sugar Mills Muslim Khan Sabir, Pakistan Tobacco Workers president Wali Mohammad and leaders of Pakistan Workers Federation.

Sources said that later the factory management held talks with the leaders of political parties and workers. The workers demanded opening of the factory and said that if the management could not do so then they should be given a ‘golden handshake’.

However, Mohim Shah, one of the leaders of workers, quoted officials of the factory as saying that they could not do anything without a green signal from the central office in Rawalpindi.

The workers announced that their protest would continue till Friday and if the factory management failed to meet their demands they would announce their future line of action.

Labour director Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also visited the factory, but failed to break the deadlock. The workers said that they had also approached the labour court in Peshawar and hearing of their case would be held on Thursday (today).