Calcutta, April 26 :    Calcutta, April 26:  Labour unrest threatens to force the closure of Hindustan Lever's factory at Garden Reach where picketing workers have blocked raw material supplies to the factory. The workers owing allegiance to the Citu-affiliated Thika Shramik Union have been staging a demonstration outside the factory demanding a wage settlement. The strife broke out yesterday when seven contract labour were barred from entering the factory. 'Two plants in the factory have already been shut down,' said Hindustan Lever's corporate communications manager Debashis Roy over the phone from Mumbai. 'Two other plants have raw materials sufficient for only a few hours of operation.' Roy said the factory which employs 1200 workers will be automatically shut down if the workers do not withdraw the blockade. 'We have taken up the matter with the West Bengal government and we hope that they will intervene,' Roy said. The factory, which is undergoing a Rs 8.5 crore modernisation, produces detergent powder, soaps and personal care products from its four plants. A union leader said the management had refused to discuss a charter of demands drawn up by the Citu-led union on behalf of the contract labour. The factory has one union for the permanent workers which is led by the Shramik Sangram Committee. It has two unions for the contract workers - one led by the SSC and the other affiliated to Citu. The permanent workers' union - HLL Shramik Karmachari Union - has also served a strike notice to protest the delay in reaching a wage deal overdue since January. HSKU president Kamal Tiwari said the company wants to axe500 workers and has set it as a precondition for talks.