Social Accountability International



January/February 2009
E-Update Newsletter


In This Issue
Certification Statistics
Upcoming 2009 Training Schedule
Auditor Training in New York
New SAI Corporate Programs Members
Bhutan and Nepal: Notes from the Field & Photos
SAI & CIPE Case Study
Program Feature: Project Cultivar
SA8000: 2008 Drafter's Notes
SAI-Europe
News and Publications
Announcements and Upcoming Events

SA8000 Certified Facilities Industry Chart

Quick Links 
Become a Corporate Member

SA8000 Training Schedules

Support SAI

Info
SA8000 Certified Facilities Industry Chart
To help SAI improve the quality of life of working people around the world, click here to make a pledge today.  Your gift will be tax deductible.

SAI is a 501 (C)(3) charitable organization.


Certification Statistics



More Than 980,000 People Now Work in
SA8000 Facilities!


Summary Statistics as of September 30, 2008

Total facilities currently certified: 1,835
New facilities certified this year: 88
Countries represented: 68
Industries represented: 67
Workers employed: 985,847

Upcoming SAI Training Courses



February

3-Day Advanced Auditor Training
February 25- 27:  Lisbon, Portugal  Enroll Now

SA8000: 2008 Standard Revision Training Course
January-March 2009: Web-Based Training
Enroll Now

March

3-Day Advanced Auditor Training
March 16-18:  Italy  Enroll Now

5-Day Basic Auditor Training
March 2-6:  Lisbon, Portugal  Enroll Now
March 2-6:  Chennai, India  Enroll Now
March 9-13:  Essen, Germany  Enroll Now
March 30-April 3:  Hamburg, Germany  Enroll Now

Professional Development Series
March TBD 2009: Sao Paulo, Brazil Enroll Now
March 9-10: Padua, Italy Enroll Now
March 12-13: Manza, Italy Enroll Now

SA8000: 2008 Standard Revision Training Course
January-March 2009: Web-Based Training
Enroll Now

April

3-Day Advanced Auditor Training
April 20-22:  Mumbai, India  Enroll Now

5-Day Basic Auditor Training

April 20-24:  Karachi, Pakistan  Enroll Now

Professional Development Series
April 27-28: Shenzhen, China Enroll Now
Control of Sub-Contractors; Overtime & Wages 

SAI Auditor Training Course in
New York



December 1-5, 2009

SAI's Director of Field Services, Doug DeRuisseau, led SAI's basic auditor training course at our office in New York, where 16 attendees coming from as far as Japan, Hong Kong, the UK, participated in a comprehensive 5-day training about social compliance under the SA8000 standard.  Attendees ranged from NGOs, businesses and auditing agencies, to university students.
auditor training DEC 2008 nyc



SAI Welcomes a New
Corporate Programs Member



Apple Joins SAI Corporate Programs

SAI is pleased to welcome Apple Inc. as a Supporting member in SAI Corporate Programs. Based in Cupertino, California, Apple designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, portable digital music players, and mobile communication devices and sells a variety of related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions.

For Apple's 2008 fiscal year, net sales were over $32 billion, with approximately 35,000 employees worldwide.  The company operates 247 retail stores, including 205 stores in the U.S. and 42 stores internationally.

Apple began its supplier responsibility program in 2005 with the creation of the Apple Supplier Code of Conduct, initially focusing on first-tier manufacturers.  In 2007 the company expanded its scope to include audits of second-tier manufacturers.  The company's Code is similar to the Electronics Industry Code of Conduct but also recognizes the core conventions of the ILO. 

Supporting Membership, the introductory level of SAI Corporate Programs, is a company's public
statement that it shares SAI's mission to improve social compliance in the workplace and the supply
chain. Supporting Members explore a program of work with SAI, such as training, technical assistance, or participating in a multi-stakeholder program of field work.

For infomation on how to become a Corporate Member Click here

For a list of current SAI Corporate Members
Click here


Bhutan and Nepal:
Notes from the Field & Photos



SAI's CSR Awareness Seminar

SAI welcomed an impressive number of participants at two awareness seminars in Bhutan's capital, Thimpu, and Phuentsholing, the tiny country's most important industrial city. The participants, totaling more than 50 at each seminar, were managers and directors from various industrial sectors. These ranged from cement companies to chemical processing plants, to steel and alloys facilities, to gas companies, and additionally many from the hotel industry. 

These two seminars in Bhutan were elements in a four-part training seminar, in which the other two took place in Kathmandu and Biratnagar, Nepal. The series is part of a NORAD-funded program to increase capacity.  The seminars took place between November 24th and December 6th, 2008.
 
Attendees in Nepal were predominantly officers of the standards and quality assurance agencies, together with mid-level managers from industry and commerce. Discussions suggested that few Nepalese companies meet international ISO management systems criteria or were in international trade. However, it was expected that this number would expand and an early inclusion of social standards could give them a head start on early compliance with expected global norms.
 
In Bhutan, Engineer Dil R. Chhetri, of the host organization, SQCA, opened the workshop with a presentation in which parallels were drawn between the advantages of quality certification for management systems that had begun to take place in the country. The presence in the group of the Legal Officer of the Ministry of Labor was a very positive element. This allowed the group to input to that process in an informal but profound manner that was appreciated by both the participants and the representatives of the Ministry of Labor. As a result, the Ministry made arrangements to include three of its local inspectors in the second workshop in Phuentsholing. 
 
At this time most of Bhutan's industry sells to the domestic market, with some larger companies trading with India. Still, there was much interest in the growing international demand for quality standards.

thimpu, bhutan

Thimpu, Bhutan

phuentsholing, bhutan
Phuentsholing, Bhutan
kathmandu
Kathmandu, Nepal

Biratnagar training

Biratnagar, Nepal

SAI & CIPE Case Study


From Words to Action: A Business Case for Implementing Workplace Standards

The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and SAI are pleased to announce the release of new corporate citizenship case studies: "From Words to Action: A Business Case for Implementing Workplace Standards". These case studies look into different aspects of improving workplace conditions and analyze the benefits of doing so for workers and businesses.

 "These cases illustrate that an ethical, compliant workplace is better for both workers and businesses," observed John D. Sullivan, executive director of CIPE.

Investment in human capital has a high rate of return because healthier, better trained, and more loyal staff drives quality, productivity, innovation, and the sustainability of enterprise. The case studies demonstrate a core principle of corporate citizenship: business can do good while also doing well.

The companies profiled differ in maturity, scale, industry, and geographic location, and include a mid-size garment factory in China, a large textile company in Turkey, and a world-renowned steel manufacturer in India. Nevertheless, all businesses reported significant and replicable benefits of using SAI tools, including the SA8000 system for managing ethical workplace conditions.

"Business attains corporate sustainability when all three bottom lines - financial, environmental, and social - are addressed in an integrated fashion, because stakeholder and shareholder value are inextricably linked," said Eileen Kohl Kaufman, Executive Director of SAI.


The lessons learned can be applied by other businesses in developing and developed countries alike. Voluntary systems such as SA8000 are needed to show the necessity of high workplace standards, to make the benefits of compliance as visible as the costs, and to make good corporate citizenship an integral part of a basic business model.

Program Feature



Project Cultivar, Central America


Project Cultivar seeks to increase compliance with labor laws in Central America. The simple statement reflects a major challenge, a challenge to which SAI and local partners, including the Center for Human Development (CDH), are responding with an integrated approach, taking into account companies' struggle to be competitive and workers' struggle for a decent living.

Agrolibano, Suragro and EXCOSUR are the three largest melon producers of the region.  They began their production in the region following years of nutrient-stripping cotton production and now must meet growing demands from international buyers on how they manage production. The intensity of the task of product quality for melons became crystal clear from May through December 2008, the time it took for the producers to overcome the discovery of salmonella in melons from their farms in U.S. markets.  That one salmonella scare - cost the melon growers an entire crop.  

These growers are the main employer in a very poor region where workers have few alternatives to the long, hard days in the melon fields.  Workers start their day at 4:30 AM when they pile into the company's  cattle truck to travel to the melon farms; they work ten-hour days under a 95° F sun, returning home at 6:00 PM. Depending on the farm, workers earn between $3 and $5 (~ 60 and 100 Lempiras) per workday. In October 2008, facing food prices fast rising beyond their paychecks, workers at one melon producer held a strike and shut down their farm for a week to negotiate a salary increase.  

Worker pressure combined with increasing quality controls from buyers has created significant tensions around efforts to improve the industry. Thus, there is a need to bring together diverse local actors to develop a ground-up, integrated solution. So CDH and SAI assembled a multi-disciplinary team to run Project Cultivar in Honduras.  They also brought together the region's Government inspectors from diverse agencies and worked with SAI and the Project Cultivar team in Central America to develop tools for workers and managers to drive continuous improvement.

The CDH Cultivar team includes agriculture economist and CDH President Efrain Arrivillaga, labor expert and 2009 civil-society nominee to the Supreme Court Hector Hernandez, occupational health and safety expert Otilia Maria Lopez, and popular education specialist Nelson Mejia.

Through a series of workshops, CDH has brought together regional offices of the Secretariats of labor, social security, health, environment and agriculture to increase their effectiveness through coordinated inspections.

With the melon producer companies, CDH with SAI are training and providing technical assistance to managers and workers to implement system-level changes to enable and ensure labor law compliance, beginning with occupational health and safety.

In January, CDH and SAI gained the commitment of melon companies Agrolibano and EXCOSUR and fine tuned compliance tools for managers and workers.  CDH's multi-stakeholder fora, bi-lateral dialogues with employers and unions, and Chiquita Brands' strong endorsement of the program helped bring about this agreement. Upcoming workshops will provide the opportunity for employers to put the CDH-Cultivar technical tools into practice and take the next steps in the response to labor law compliance.

 

SA8000:2008 Drafters' Notes

Posted on SAI's website are drafter's notes for the 2008 revision of SA8000. In revising the SA8000 standard, the SAI Advisory Board sought to maintain the level of requirements. The majority of changes were designed to clarify areas of the standard where there were frequent questions. 

The nine Social Accountability Requirements remain the same - no additional sections have been added, and no existing ones have been removed. SA8000:2008 Drafter's Notes is more explicit in areas where questions and misinterpretations have surfaced in its past field use. It also addresses abuses in the form of practices that have become much more common since the 2001 version was released.
 

The drafter's notes are intended to help auditors, employers, supply chain managers, workers and other interested parties who use SA8000 to understand the context and intent of substantive changes in the revised standard.

SAI-Europe

Sean Ansett, SAI's European Representative, has been working with BSCI and ITKIB, (SAI's program partners in Turkey) to complete a successful EC-funded management training and technical assistance program. Two closing ceremonies took place in Brussels and in Istanbul late last year and the partners are currently collecting factory data and feedback from participants.  A report will be available next month.

Mr.Ansett was a guest speaker at the CEU Business School in Madrid where he shared his experiences with implementing SA8000.  SA8000 interest is growing in Spain. The first SA8000 basic auditor training course in Spain will take place June 15-19 in Madrid.

In addition, Mr. Ansett recently attended the launch of the UN Global Compact's guide "The Business and its Supply Chain: A Management Alternative, Application of the Global Compact's 10 Principles in Business Management" in Spain, February 5, 2009.  The guide cites SAI and SA8000, with SA8000 being the only standard mentioned in the guide beyond those from the ILO and UNCHR. This guide was published in Spanish. 


SAI-BSCI-ITKIB Turkey Training Project Successfully Completed

SAI's three-step training project, with partners BSCI and ITKIB (Istanbul textile Manufacturers and Exporters Association) worked with 73 Turkish textile manufacturers. The training and technical assistance were successfully completed in November, 2008.    

A description of this project and its accomplishments were featured in BSCI Echo No. 4

News and Publications

SA8000, Solidaridad, IFAT, and Rainforest Alliance featured in Red Magazine

The February edition of RED magazine, a UK-based women's lifestyle magazine, featured SAI and several more organizations and products in the article entitled,"Meet the Eco-nistas." Featured products and entities range from food products, to clothing, to tourism:


From Gap to Gucci: A rather hidden mark but one worth tracking down is the SA8000 Standard, a 'tool for implementing international labour standards', run by Social Accountability International (SAI). Issues covered include child labour, health and safety, and working hours. Brands are ranging from Gucci to Gap are already involved. Visit sa-intl.org.

Solidaridad's "Made-by" project was also featured in this article:  

High-End: Launched in the UK this year, the MADE-BY label is owned by fair-trade pioneers Solidaridad (solidaridad.nl). 'It says a brand is working with MADE-BY to develop social and environmental sustainability within their supply chains', explains spokesperson Allanna McAspurn. Visit made-by.nl.

Solidaridad is a partner organization with SAI-China in the "Made-by China" project, which aims to develop a clothing line that incorporates organic cotton production, socially responsible manufacturing and fair trade practices.  

Additionally, the article featured the Fairtrade, organic, and eco-friendly initiatives put forth by the Rainforest Alliance with their colorful frog symbol that indicates that a product meets social, ecological, and economic considerations. 


Deborah Leipziger's
forthcoming book Social Accountability 8000: The First Decade; Implementation, Influence, and Impact will feature chapters written by SAI Corporate Members and project partners:  


Partha Sengupta and Priyadarshini Sharma of Tata Steel; Mike Patrick of TNT; Dr. Johannes Merck of Otto Versand; Franco Furno of Gucci; Dan Henkle of Gap Inc.; George Jaksch of Chiquita; Lorenz Berzau of Business and Social Compliance Initiatives (BSCI); Janet Mensik of Solidaridad; Dr. Morton Winston of the College of New Jersey; Michael Hiscox, Claire Schwartz, and Michael Toffel of Harvard University; John Tepper Marlin of the Stern School of Business (NYU) and Beat Gruninger of Brazil-based Business Meets Social Development (BSD).

Additionally, it features chapters from members of SAI's internal team: Alice Tepper Marlin, Eileen Kohl Kaufman, Craig Moss, and Rochelle Zaid.


SAI Advisory Board member, Dr. Mort Winston
recently completed a chapter for the The Ashgate Research Companion to Ethics and International Relations entitled "Multinational Corporations and Global Responsibilities." This reference book, edited by Professor Patrick Hayden, is due out in hardback this year. He also contributed a chapter entitled "Why Human Rights Survived the War on Terror" to another forthcoming book entitled "The Human Rights Regime Since 9/11: Transatlantic Perspectives,"edited by Michael Goodhart and Anja Mihr.

SAI President, Alice Tepper Marlin, was recently profiled in an interview with Harold Channer on January 9 as part of his Public Access television series, "Conversations with Harold Hudson Channer."
Click here to access the entire interview footage.

SAI Executive Director, Eileen Kaufman, was interviewed in SGS Portugal's Commemorative 2008 Magazine. The interview focused on the benefits of ethical supply-chain management and the significance of transparent business practices. In addition, it noted how investing in human capital gives the company and its workers heightened values and significance in the global marketplace.

SAI Development Associate, Joleen Ong, delivered a presentation, Social Auditing in the Banana Sector:  Monitoring Freedom of Association in Costa Rica at the College of New Jersey on February 5, as part of the College's Politics Forum Series. The presentation was developed from research conducted on Solidarista Associations in Costa Rica while serving as an intern at SAI last year. Ms. Ong is an International Studies alumni from the College of New Jersey, graduating in May 2008.

Announcements and Upcoming Events


Fair Trade Valentine's Day

TransFair USA is promoting its annual "Fall in Love with Fair Trade" campaign, featuring Fair Trade certified wine, chocolate, and flowers, an ethical gift alternative. Information on where to buy these products in the United States can be accessed at http://transfairusa.org/valentinesday/

TransFair USA is one of twenty members of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), and the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States.

Congratulations to Disney, Hewlett-Packard, TNT, Coca-Cola, Kesko, Aeon, and Nokia on making the 2009 Global 100: Most Sustainable Corporations in the World!

Corporate Programs members, Disney, Hewlett-Packard, and TNT, along with our project partners, Coca-Cola, Aeon, Kesko, and Nokia made this year's list.  TNT's Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Mike Patrick, is also a member of SAI's Advisory Board.
 
The Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the Worldis a project initiated by Corporate Knights Inc. with Innovest Strategic Value Advisors Inc., a leading research firm specializing in analyzing extra-financial drivers of risk and shareholder value, including companies' performance on social, environmental and strategic governance issues.

January 2009 UN Global Compact Bulletin

The UN Global Compact Bulletin is designed to keep participants up to date on news, engagement opportunities, resources and events.

Job Openings

Part-Time Human Rights Associate at
Eileen Fisher Inc.

Eileen Fisher, Inc. seeks an energetic and committed human rights advocate to assist the Director of Social Consciousness and the Social Consciousness team in carrying out the company's commitment to human rights in the supply chain. The work includes scheduling and tracking factory audits and training, preparing and distributing SA8000 program materials to new factories; compiling, entering and tracking data and analyzing trends; integrating human rights and sustainability data; visiting and assisting domestic factories with SA8000 compliance. The ideal candidate will have: some college completed; cross-cultural experience, preferably in China; internship and/or work with human rights focus in factory or comparable organization advantageous; knowledge of SA8000 or other industry workplace standards helpful, but not required (will train); Chinese language helpful, but not required; knowledge of apparel industry helpful. This position is part-time (20 hours/week), with flexible hours. Based in Irvington, NY, open to flexible work arrangements. For more information or to apply, please visit website.

We invite you to continually send any updates for us to publish in our monthly newsletters!

email: [email protected] 
contact: Joleen Ong, +1/212/684/1414 x234
web: http://www.sa-intl.org