(FORTUNE Magazine) – To the astonishment of Wall Street's pin-striped denizens, 50 factory workers from Cone Mills, a $633-million-a-year textile maker in Greensboro, North Carolina, invaded the financial district to seek support from anyone who would listen to their objections to the company's plan to go public. The workers argue that the proposed offering will make top managers very rich at their expense. The trouble started when Cone Mills went private in 1983 and set up an ESOP for hourly workers that held 360,000 shares of something called ''junior preferred'' stock valued at $100 a share; 47 top managers and a group of | outside investors bought 8.25 million shares of common stock at $1 a share. Nine years later, Cone still values the junior preferred at $100. But the company is floating its common stock at $13. That spells a 1,300% windfall for the top brass. Says Michael Zucker, 33, national field director of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union: ''We don't mind if management gets rich. We just wish they'd cut us in on it.'' Cone spokesman Frank Fary points out that the ESOP was a gift to employees and that the stock has earned $104 a share in dividends over the years. Besides, Cone is now hashing out a new contract. ''We really see this stock- offering issue as a negotiating tactic,'' he says. The workers visited the offices of Prudential Securities and J.P. Morgan, underwriters for the offering. Zucker said employees at the banks seemed sympathetic. But he conceded, ''They're not exactly going to batter down their bosses' doors.''