Aboadze (W/R), May 1, GNA - Nineteen workers were on Monday honoured by the Western Regional Trades Union Congress (TUC) for their service to their various unions at this year's May Day Parade at Aboadze, near Takoradi.

Among those presented with awards were Miss Grace Gabrah of the Local Government Workers Union, Miss Georgina Fletcher of the Timber and Wood Workers Union and Miss Faustina Asomaning of the Public Services Workers Union.

The awards included ghetto blasters and televisions sets. Organisations that took part in the parade included Ghana Prime Wood Products Limited, Ghana Commercial Bank, State Housing Company, Ghana Highway Authority and the Electricity Company of Ghana. The rest were Du Paul Wood Treatment, Ghana Water Company, Railway Workers Union, Twin-City Radio, the Judiciary Service Workers Association and the TUC Vocational Institute. Addressing the parade, Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, asked workers to see the country, as their own and put in more effort to salvage it.

Mr Aidoo said the era when workers reported to work only to sign their names and leave to do other things must be seen as things of the past. He said, "Workers must see the evil in working lotto during office hours and stop aiding people to cheat the state". Mr Aidoo said, "Monitory policies forced on us by multinational companies and financial institutions failed, because these institutions did not take into consideration the peculiar problems of the country". He said it was only the people themselves, who could make good and informed decisions for themselves, adding, "We must, therefore, all work together to achieve what we want the future direction of our nation to be".

Mr Aidoo said developing countries needed more than debt cancellation from the developed countries that must assist them to stand on their own. He said the unfavourable terms of trade at the international arena must be looked at critically and Africa must be given her fair share in terms of trade.

Mr Aidoo said unjust trade terms and the dumping of shoddy low cost goods on local industries were unacceptable. Mr Philip Kwesi Nkrumah, Shama-Ahanta East Metropolitan Chief Executives, urged workers to co-operate with the government to transform Ghana into a middle-income country by 2010. He said to attain this feat, the economy would need to grow between 8 per cent and 10 per cent instead of the current pattern of 4 per cent to 6 per cent.

Mr Nkrumah said this was a challenge, which both government and organised labour must embrace in the spirit of mutual interest. Mr Jonathan Cobbina Frimpong-Manso, acting Regional Secretary of TUC, read the address of the Secretary-General of the TUC. He called on the government to consider the plight of workers, when formulating economic policies. Mr Frimpong-Manso said the government could do this by involving various stakeholders in the formulation of the policies.

Cape Coast

Mr Napoleon Kpoh, General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) on Monday expressed concern about the deterioration of health and safety facilities, especially in factories in the country, resulting in many workplace related injuries and deaths. He noted that some factory workers were suffering from ergonometrical disease and repetitive strain injuries with little or no attention being paid to their plight by their employers, because the factories inspectorate division lacked the manpower and resources needed to effectively deal with the issue.

Mr Kpoh, who expressed the concerns in a speech read for him by the Central Regional Industry Relation Officer, Mr Musah Ahmed Ali at the region's May Day celebration by the ICU members in Cape Coast, appealed to the government to take urgent steps to address the problem before workplaces were turned into "disease and death manufacturing plants".

The workers paraded the streets of Cape Coast and later converged at the premises of the Ghana Private Road Trade Union (GPRTU), where their leaders addressed them. The theme for the day was, "The Labour Law as an Instrument for Sustaining Ghanaian Industries Through Employer/Union Collaboration".

Mr Kpoh condemned the practice were some employers used unscrupulous means to get rid of their permanent employees and replaced them with outsourced, casual or contract workers, this he stressed, enable such employers to make abnormal profits at the expense of their employees without re-investing in the productive sector of the economy and called on such employers to desist from the practice.

He was unhappy with the spate of indiscipline in the society and urged the members to respect the law and adhere to the advice of their leadership in their dealings and to remain calm.

Mr Kpoh announced the union would soon start a "susu welfare scheme" which would assist members to make some investment before they retired and said some of the members, who left in the wake of the confusion, when the IUC broke away have started returning to their roots and urged the members to welcome such members.

Mr Jacob Kobina Sarsah, Regional Labour Officer, said the ICU stood tall among trades unions in the region and that in the past five years members of the union have not embarked upon any strike action and urged them to keep it up.

" Like every human institution problems will arise but when it occurs we should not loose our heads, we should not exaggerate labour problems and grievances by drama of violent confrontation or extreme postures" he cautioned.

Mr Sarsah was unhappy about the fact some workers were provided with safety items such as boots, helmets, goggles and other protective items, but failed to use them with unacceptable reasons that they were heavy thereby putting their lives in danger.

Mrs Theresa Yeboah, Regional ICU Women's Organizer, who presided, said ICU disaffiliation from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) had yielded more results than problems and urged ICU members not to see members of other unions as enemies, but that they should rather welcome them and treat them as their bothers and sisters.

In a related development, 46-year-old Mr Isaac Entuah, alias Red, worker of the Ameen Sangari Industries Limited, based in Cape Coast was adjudged the best ICU worker in the region.

He was presented with a 14 inches television set, certificate of honour, two crates soft drinks, T-shirt and cap for his dedication to work and his activities in the union.

Koforidua

The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Yaw Barimah has advised workers to be courteous but bold to question things objectively with the aim of helping to correct and build the nation.

He advised them to debate various solutions to common distressing problems and explained that it was in so doing that they could render to mother Ghana the service of which she stood so much for, and for which so much had been sacrificed.

Mr Barimah was addressing workers at this year's May Day celebration by workers in the Eastern Region in Koforidua on Monday. Before converging at the Jackson's Park for the address, the workers had marched through the major streets of Koforidua municipality, with some carrying placards, which read, "We need a more realistic wage policy", "Our take home can not take us home" and "Health care is a team work, stop the discrimination".

He said workers needed a bigger share of the national cake but advised that workers could only get that share, if they could help to create a much bigger national cake and urged all workers to work towards enhanced productivity.

The New Juaben Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Adjei Boateng advised workers to adopt dialogue and consensus building to reach compromises and to resolve any differences that might arise, when they disagreed with government or their employers over their working conditions to avoid persistent tensions and pressures in society. He explained that in that way, Ghanaians could with greater confidence confront the global challenges facing the country. Ms Francisca Borkor Bortey, Eastern Regional Secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) read the TUC Secretary General's speech. Various prizes were awarded to some deserving workers.

In his closing remarks, the Eastern Regional Chairman of the TUC, Mr Aaron Kegyeda, who chaired the function, observed that workers had pledged their desire to increase productivity and to help develop the country and expressed the desire that workers would be given their fair share, when it came to the sharing of the national cake. May 1, 2006