COIMBATORE: The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Western Tamil Nadu hoisted black flags in their units and workers wore black badges demanding a roll back of power tariff hike and peak hour charges.

Thousands of workers employed in over 50,000 MSMEs across Coimbatore wore black badges to work. Members of various industrial associations also took out a rally to the Collector’s office by wearing black shirts.

However, police stopped them and allowed a few representatives alone to meet and hand over a petition to District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati.

The MSMEs, which held marathon protests including strike and fasting in the past to highlight their demand, have declared staging a massive fasting protest in Chennai on October 16.

In a similar protest, in Erode, over 6,000 industrial units hoisted black flags and hundreds of workers came in a rally to the district collector office. They submitted a petition to Erode District Collector Raja Gopal Sunkara.

In the petition, the MSMEs claimed that Tamil Nadu is in the forefront of industrial growth due to strenuous efforts of the industrial sector.

However, the power tariff hike has come as a big blow and threatens the very survival of the MSMEs, they claimed.

In Tirupur, more than 5,000 MSMEs including textile firms took part in the protest.