had its first meeting yesterday afternoon at the House of Assembly.

Committee chairman Mr. Gilbert Darrell (NLP) said he and members were "enthusiastic'' about their task and will meet on a regular basis throughout the summer recess of the House.

They will determine whether the existing laws relating to trade unions and labour relations should be amended or not.

Although Mr. Darrell could not say exactly when the formal report would be made, he said he would "like to think it would be ready by the next session of the House''.

"The committee will invite submissions both written and oral from any interested parties in the near future,'' he said. "It must, however, be made clear that these submissions will be treated with the strictest confidentiality and that meetings will be held in camera -- no media representative or other member(s) of the public are allowed to attend unless requested to do so for the purpose of presenting an oral submission.''