She told a meeting of the Technical and Allied Workers Union (TAWU) that there could be no economic growth and development without industrial peace and stability.

“But there cannot be industrial peace and stability without industrial justice,” said Labour Minister Roberts. “Worker-employer relations must be anchored in justice. This is the philosophy which will guide the Ministry of Labour under my watch.”

TAWU has just hosted the Third General Council Meeting of the Sixth Triennial Term of the union. Among the participants were representatives from the Transport and General Workers Union, Britain’s largest trade union.

Mrs. Roberts, in an address to the TAW meeting on Thursday, said she and the other members of the National Democratic Congress government are serious about respecting institutions and of involving people and organisations in the governance of the country.

“I don’t skylark,” said MP Roberts, who is also Minister of Social Services and Ecclesiastical Affairs. “We must do things professionally and we have to radically overhaul the Ministry of Labour. Too many disputes referred to the ministry take too long to be attended to. Grievances have been reported and they sometimes take years for the parties to receive recommendations from the Labour Department.”

The overhaul of Labour Ministry has included the promoting of staff members whom, the Minister said, had worked for years without receiving either promotion or training.

The NDC government of Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, Mrs. Roberts said, recognizes and respects the trade union movement and intends to be represented at next year’s International Labour Organisation annual meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.