In a World Experts Lecture Series event at the School of Labor and Industrial Relations, Dr. Max Lane, a scholar of Indonesian society, stated that “After the Suharto dictatorship fell in 1998, trade unions mushroomed in medium sized and large workplaces. There are now several confederations, many federations and probably thousands of individual enterprise unions. But labor remains impotent and is being pushed back on almost all fronts where it is campaigning.”
While in her reaction, Dr. Verna Viajar said that “It is important to look at the ebbs and flows of history to understand the present and get a glimpse of a possible future. Worker’s rights and struggles are inherently linked to broader democratization struggles, as the struggle for justice and democracy at the shop floor mirrors the struggle for equality in society.”
UP President Angelo Jimenez gave a recorded keynote address while former UP Diliman Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo delivered the opening remarks. Honored guests at the lecture included former UP President Dr. Francisco Nemenzo, Jr., Liliane Danso-Dahmen of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Princess Nemenzo of Womanhealth, Dr. Ed Tadem, Professor Emeritus at the UP Asian Center, former SOLAIR Deans Maragtas SV Amante and Jorge Sibal, current Dean Melisa Serrano and incoming SOLAIR College Secretary Emily Cabegin. Faculty and students of SOLAIR attended along with several students and researchers from other UP units.