SHAH ALAM: Line leader Suziana Mohd Yunan arrived at the gates of Yong Kam Fook Plastic Industries at 8am, her routine for the past 25 years, but unlike other days, she could not get in yesterday.

She alleged that the factory she had worked for since she was 18, had closed without giving her notice.

"I've heard of workers receiving gold watches and savings certificates after 25 years of service, but I got laid off without notice," said the 43-year-old mother of four.

Suziana said she did not see the closure coming as orders for their products were coming in constantly.

M. Lakshmie, who has been with the factory for 26 years, said she started working when she was 19 and earned RM180 a month as a factory operator.

"I feel cheated. My only consolation now is that all my children, except for one, have finished schooling," she said.

Another frustrated employee, Rosman Ibrahim, 43, who has been working as a clerk for 17 years, said he and other workers had made individual police reports on the improper closure of the factory.

"We will continue to protest for as long as it takes," he said, adding that the only explanation given was the written notice on the gate yesterday morning.

According to one of the security guards, some 200 workers who had gathered outside the factory's gates yesterday morning were asked to read a notice about the closure.

The factory also employed some 100 foreign workers, including Nepalese Chandra Man, 25, who has worked there for six years.

He claimed that their passports were kept by the company.

"All of us are without our passports. What if the authorities arrest us now?," he asked, adding that they were also facing eviction as their employer had not paid their hostel rent.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud and Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad visited the workers at the factory.

"We are very concerned with what has happened to the workers. We hope the Human Resources Ministry and the state government will intervene. The company's action was improper," Syed Shahir said.

Attempts by employees and reporters to contact the owners went unanswered.

The company, which was established in 1950, employed over 500 workers.

It manufactured plastic products, electronic and electrical items and components, automotive components, packaging items, advertising and promotion materials and household wares.