The U.P. School of Labor and Industrial Relations (SOLAIR) traces its roots to the Labor Education Center (LEC). Founded in 1954, the Center was established to assist the fledgling labor movement at that time by providing training on the various aspects of trade union organizing and administration. The Center boasted of a highly capable training and professional staff of labor lawyers and trainers most of whom were recruited from the ranks of the trade union movement. After only four years of operation, the Center expanded its services to countries in Asia to fill in the gap in labor education among Asian trade unions. The Center has subsequently renamed the Asian Labor Education Center in 1958 and became the leading regional training institution for Asian trade union leaders.