The General Secretary of General Construction, Manufacturing and Quarries Workers' Union of the TUC (GCMQWU), Comfort A. Agambaa, has urged business owners to empower their employees, especially in the decision-making process.

He said empowering workers to be part of decision making was crucial for the growth of every business.

“Given employees more freedom, making them more accountable in every task they handle will let them feel belonging and dedicated," she added.

Mrs Agambaa was speaking at the first Quadrennial Conference of the Union at Kasoa in the Awutu Senya East Constituency of the Central Region.

The three-day conference on the theme: "Organising for the Employment of Workers: The Challenges and Prospects,” brought together over 100 delegates across the country.

Mrs Agambaa said workers had a natural craving for power and as managers, tapping what makes employees more productive in their jobs could be extremely crucial in achieving targets.

She said organising featured strongly in the Conference theme because it was one of the key tool the Union was committed to, " though the challenges we face are enormous at the field."

"Our sector is dominated with a lot of nonstandard employment contracts notably fixed, casual and temporary contracts, which hinders our efforts to organise workers.

"Despite these challenges, the Union is not discouraged but continuously pursue its agenda to organise workers in the sector for positive transformation."

The Union, barely three years old, has a total membership of about 8,000 with a potential member of 5,000.

That, the General Secretary, described as rewarding and pledged the resolve to achieve the 20,000 membership target in the next four years.

She thanked the membership for their continuous support which translated into the successes chalked over the past three years.

Dr Anthony Yaw Baah, the Secretary-General of TUC, Ghana, commended the GCMQWU for its passion for the union movement in Ghana.

"Your Union is new and the first to give a woman General Secretary but through dedication and passion, you've made it in the union movement," he said, adding that "the hard work of a leader pays."

"They might be small in number but when they work hard, their efforts will be recognized."

He, therefore, urged more women to emulate the example of the leadership of GCMQWU to ensure that in the future more women were occupying the General Secretary, Deputy General Secretary, and Chairman positions.

Dr Baah said gender equality was high on the agenda of the TUC and the leadership was empowering women to take up positions at both national and regional levels.

He said the construction sector was very key to the socio-economic development of every nation and the workers could not fight challenges in the sector alone, adding they would need the Union to help them fight those challenges.

"Without the Union, workers at the sector will continue to be very vulnerable... Challenges facing the sector now are more than when the country was under the colonial masters," he said and called for protection for those categories of workers.

At the end of the Conference, delegates with popular acclamation confirmed the old executives to lead them for another four-year term.

Eric Adelaquaye was also confirmed to take the vacant position of Deputy General Secretary of the Union.