Ten workers were on Tuesday honoured for their dedication to duty by the Central Regional Secretariat of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC), as part of activities to commemorate this year’s May Day celebration which was held at Assin Foso. The parade, which was attended by various workers unions forming the TUC, under the theme; “Labour and nation building- 50 years and beyond” began earlier with a brass band dance by the workers through some streets of the town. The ten workers who were each awarded with a “14-inch” colour television set as their prizes, comprised Ms Catherine Gyaaba of the Public Services Workers Union (PSWU), Mr J. K. Amissah from the General Workers Union (GAWU), Ms Rebecca Kuntu Blankson of UNICOF, Mr Yahuza Ahmadu of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and Mr John De Graft Baiden of the Health Services Workers Union. The rest were Mrs Beatrice Arthur of the PEWU, Ms Janet Yeboah of BMWU, Mr Stephen Amonoo of the Local Government Workers Union (LGWU) and Ms Sophia Kwakwa of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU). Nana Ato Arthur, the Regional Minister who read the President’s address for him, on the occasion, stated that the challenges of the private sector which included access to affordable credit were being improved with the stabilization in the macro-economy, the lowering of interest rates and the introduction of new products like the venture capital fund and the medium and small scale loans scheme. He also announced a partnership formed by Ghana and China to reactivate the Juapong textiles mills, owned formerly by Vilisco Ghana Group, and that at the moment there were 185 workers, including five Chinese management staff, and it would employ 800 workers at full capacity, and that government hoped to inaugurate it on May 11. In a speech read for him, Mr Kwasi Adu-Amankwa, Secretary-General of the Ghana TUC acknowledged the recent salary increases in the public sector but that the increases benefited a few top officials and professionals, whilst majority of workers, particularly those in the civil service continued to earn salaries below what could be described as a ‘living wage”. Mr Karikari Apau, District Chief Executive for Assin North district, in a welcoming address, stressed the need for both employer and employee to respect each other and work harmoniously in a peaceful atmosphere to enhance productivity. Source: GNA