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Aminul Islam, member of the BCWS in Bangladesh, was found dead on April 5, 2012
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SAI joins the international community to express concern over the death of Aminul Islam and support calls for investigation.
Actions:
>>SAI's letter to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh
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Training Courses
Social Fingerprint® Online Courses
- Getting Started in Your Company
-Building Your Internal Social Performance Team
SA8000® Online Auditor Training Courses
SA8000® Revision Course
May 14-18, Bucharest, Romania
May 21-25, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
June 11-15, Shenzhen, China
June 11-15, Chennai, India
June 18-22, Sao Paulo, Brazil
SA8000® Advanced Auditor Training
May 2-4, New Delhi, India
May 9-11, Bucharest, Romania
June 4-6, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
June 27-29, Shenzhen, China
July 16-18, NY/NJ, USA
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Social Accountability International (SAI) is a non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization established to advance the human rights of workers by promoting decent work conditions, labor rights, and corporate social responsibility through voluntary standards and capacity building.
SAI is headquartered in the United States with field representation in Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Philippines, Switzerland, and UAE.
SAI- Human Rights at Work
For newsletter inquiries contact:
SAI Communications Manager
Joleen Ong, jong@sa-intl.org |
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 Anvil Knitwear's Educational Approach to Sustainability
SAI interviews Anvil Knitwear's Caterina Conti to learn more about its efforts to promote ethical consumerism, and Earth Day events
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Highlights of Anvil Knitwear's Earth Day display in New York (from left): 1) An organic vegetable seedling display, part of the larger Organic Garden Program; 2) Anvil Knitwear staff by Anvil's TrackMyT display; 3) One of the board games Anvil gave away to children to teach where their t-shirt comes from.
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Established over a century ago, Anvil Knitwear is a leading apparel manufacturer, primarily in the imprintable and private label markets. Anvil, a SAI Signatory Corporate Program member since 2007, is an active player in the sustainability field. Headquartered in New York, it is a vertically integrated manufacturer, with an estimated 4,300 employees in the U.S., Central America and Europe. It is also the largest buyer of U.S.-grown organic and transitional cotton. Anvil has won numerous awards for its work, including for its interactive, educational website- www.TrackMyT.com - that educates consumers about how a shirt is created, from a cotton seed to the factory floor.
Q. Earth Day is always an eventful time for Anvil Knitwear - you're one of the key sponsors of the Earth Day festival in New York at Grand Central Station. What did you do this year?
This year, it's all about the kids. We wanted to showcase the schools that were recipients from our Organic Learning Garden program. We also gave used TrackMyT® board games to educate kids about what they could learn about who, and how, their clothing is being made and its carbon footprint. The organic gardens allows us to take the TrackMyT® into the classroom >>Read more
Caterina Conti is Anvil Knitwear's Executive Vice President and Head of Sustainability. Learn more about Anvil Knitwear's work at anvilcsr.com, and its TrackMyT® program at trackmyt.com. This article was conducted by SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong. For inquiries, contact JOng@sa-intl.org.
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Social Fingerprint®: STX Vietnam Shipbuilder
SAI teams up with the Norwegian Export Credit Agency (GIEK) to 'measure & improve' STX Vietnam's labor standards implementation, to meet lending criteria
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Photos from STX Vietnam's operations in Vung Tau (from left): 1) SAI Lead Trainer Badri Gulur (right) conducts an onsite assessment with STX General Director Roger Vassdal; 2) Group photo of STX Vietnam employees - the company employs some 700 people; 3) Aerial shot of STX Vietnam's shipbuilding operations. [Photo credit: Badri Gulur & STX Vietnam]
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On February 8-10, in Vung Tau, Vietnam, SAI Lead Trainer Badri Gulur conducted an onsite assessment and review of STX Vietnam. This site visit was part of a joint project among SAI, STX Vietnam and GIEK, designed to evaluate STX management systems for labor standards implementation. GIEK was specifically interested in STX Vietnam's efforts as related to the IFC's Performance Standard 2, addressing labor and working conditions. GIEK uses IFC (International Finance Corporation) as a reference. This project leverages SAI's expertise from our ongoing work with the IFC. That work focuses on development of handbooks and toolkits for IFC-invested companies, to provide an understanding of the management systems and internal staff capabilities required for improving labor standards performance in a company and its supply chain >>Read more
For more information, contact SAI Communications Manager, Joleen Ong- JOng@sa-intl.org.
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SAI Evaluates Timberland's Code of Conduct Program
In 2010, SAI worked with Timberland to review whether Timberland's code is implemented in the field as designed. Here are the results:
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Read SAI's complete evaluation of Timberland's Code of Conduct program @bit.ly/I8Djnw
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Excerpted sections from Timberland's 'Bootmakers Blog,' written by Timberland's Senior Manager of Code of Conduct, Colleen Von Haden: "In 2010, Timberland commissioned Social Accountability International (SAI) to review whether our Code of Conduct program is implemented in the field as designed. SAI is a non-governmental organization whose mission is to advance the rights of workers around the world. As a Corporate Member of SAI, we share their mission to improve working conditions in our or supply chain in accordance with relevant ILO conventions and national law. We asked SAI to validate our program's capability of achieving our objectives, including a review of our team's necessary skills to be effective. SAI's comprehensive assessment concluded that there are key areas of our Code of Conduct program that are working well, producing positive results and even "best practice." SAI also uncovered a number of areas for improvement and opportunities for us to mitigate potential risks and improve the impact of our Code of Conduct program. You can read more about SAI's detailed findings and recommendations on the Responsibility section of our website >>Read more
For more information, contact SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong - JOng@sa-intl.org.
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SAI's President Responds to New York Times Article, 'Electronic Giant Vowing Reforms in China Plants'
 Dear Editor: On behalf of SAI, I applaud John Ruggie's April 5 letter to the NY Times. He recommends that, in addition to imposing stricter conditions on suppliers, brands must also acknowledge and improve their ordering practices.
Consideration of both the buy-side and the sell-side of business should be integrated into any leading company's approach to measure and improve its supply chain management of social performance. Such leaders and all their stakeholders -- including human rights, development and trade union organizations -- are not only committed to eliciting decent work conditions and freedom of association at manufacturing sites, but also ensuring decent supply chain management: assuring that orders actually fit the capacity of their suppliers to fulfill while complying with ILO conventions, the SA8000® standard, the IFC Performance Standard 2, and the brands and retailers' own codes for decent work. These are sophisticated and easy to use tools, training and systems to help. Over 400 brands and suppliers, including Carrefour, Disney and Timberland, already implement SAI's Social Fingerprint® program of tools, guidance, training and technical assistance to carry out such systems >>Read more
For more information, contact SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong - JOng@sa-intl.org. |
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SAI India: Quarterly Project Review
SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin attends meetings in New Delhi and meets with Tata
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April 19 - SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin discusses the joint India "Scaling Up" Project with India Project Director Rishi Sher Singh and members of GIZ & BSCI in New Delhi.
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On April 19, SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin joined SAI India Project Director Rishi Sher Singh in attending the Steering Committee meeting for the joint project "Scaling Up Indian Responsible Business Initiatives" in New Delhi. The meeting was part of a quarterly project review by the three project partners - GIZ, SAI and BSCI - with discussion on the goals and objectives. This public-private partnership (PPP) aims to act as a platform to support the scaling up of current high quality initiatives for responsible business practices in India. Key techniques are development of local enabling and qualifying structures for trainers and qualifying the first set of such trainers. In this program, SAI and the local trainees involved in the 'training-of-trainers' activity have trained over 400 participants including suppliers to Gap Inc., Timberland and PGC Switcher (all three are Signatory Corporate Program members) and others >>Read more
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Multi-Stakeholder Forum for Decent Work in Peru
The forum convened stakeholders of Peru's garment and textile industry, to discuss the issue of short-term employment contracts
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Snapshot from the forum (from left): Julian Vargas, Adidas; Yolanda Brenes, SAI; Marietta Shimizu-Larenas, Independent Consultant; Samuel Diaz, Nike.
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On March 20-21, SAI Senior Project Manager Yolanda Brenes participated in the multi-stakeholder forum: " Decent Work in the Textile & Garment Sector in Peru: Challenges & Opportunities." The forum brought together a range of active stakeholders, including representatives of national and international trade unions and labor rights organizations, major apparel brands, multi-stakeholder initiatives, the labor ministry, and local suppliers. The focus of the meeting was to discuss how short-term employment contracts impact workers' rights in the country's garment and textile industry. >>Read more |
Enroll in Global SA8000® Auditor Training Courses International Locations & Online Courses Available
 | Participants at the Advanced SA8000® Auditor Training in Istanbul, Turkey - April 11-13, 2012.
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Upcoming: SA8000® Basic Auditor Training Location: Jakarta, Indonesia Date: July 16-20 SA8000® Advanced Auditor Training Location: Hanoi, Vietnam Date: July 23-25 SAI training courses are designed to encourage proficiency in social compliance issues and emphasize the implementation of management systems. Learn about a management-system approach to social compliance auditing and supply chain management. These courses are required for all SA8000® and BSCI auditors, and are just as valuable to internal auditors, buyers, managers and workers for auditing to any labor code or standard. The courses are open to all.
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Highlights & Announcements
 | | SA8000® Basic Auditor Training Course, New Delhi - April 2-6, 2012. Participants included representatives from certifying bodies - SGS, Bureau Veritas, DNV; food companies - Saudi Arabia, MAS Sri Lanka, Fat Face UK, Asia Inspection Ltd.; fashion distributors -Inditex Group, Dharampal Satyapal Group, MAERSK; consulting firm - Ernst & Young USA; and government - GIZ. |
SAI Spring Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Board Meeting On May 8-10, SAI will convene its semi-annual multi-stakeholder Advisory Board meeting in New York. The main focus of the meeting will be to discuss strategic issues for scaling up and increasing impact. Article forthcoming in May newsletter.
3BL Media: Interview with Disney's Laura Rubbo At Intertek's Ethical Sourcing Forum (March 29-30), 3BL Media caught up with Disney's Director of Corporate Citizenship. Disney is an SAI Corporate Program member, and Ms. Rubbo serves as a member of SAAS' Board of Directors. Watch it @bit.ly/I7eJTi
Responsible Jewellery Council 2012 Annual Progress Report The report profiles RJC's first year of its member certifications system and multi-stakeholder dialogue processes and partnerships. Read it @bit.ly/HU1QLY. On April 25 SAI & RJC carried out a joint training in Mumbai. Article forthcoming in May newsletter.
Improving Vendor Social Performance with Management Systems SAI's Craig Moss led a two-day training for Gap Inc.'s employees in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on April 18-19. Article forthcoming in May 2012 newsletter.
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SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong speaks at the Green Festival in NYC on Earth Day
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GRI Supply Chain Disclosure Working Group On April 16-18, SAI's Jane Hwang participated in the 3rd in-person meeting of the working group in Amsterdam. The group is part of the revision process for the GRI Guidelines (G4).
"Child Labor in Agriculture: Some New Developments to an Ancient Problem" SAI Advisory Board Member Dorianne Beyer, Esq., published this article in the Journal of Agromedicine, Vol. 12, Issue 2, view it @bit.ly/Iqhxci
"5 Misperceptions of the Electronics Supply Chain" SAI's Joleen Ong gave a presentation at Green America's Green Festival 2012 in NYC to raise consumer awareness about the electronics supply chain. Sarah o' Brien, EPEAT's Director of Outreach & Communications, co-presented. View the presentation @slidesha.re/IPb8Wm
SAI Signs on to Cotton Campaign Letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton SAI joined NGOs, companies and industry groups to sign on to a letter to Secretary Clinton to urge the government of Uzbekistan to end its state-sponsored forced and child labor. Read it @bit.ly/Ih1oaV
Environmental Politics in Bolivia - "Buen Vivir vs. New Extractivism" SAI Development Manager Eliza Wright attended this conference at NYU, which covered the social and environmental impacts of the extractive industry in Bolivia, as well as in the wider context of South America. Details @bit.ly/IpFiB7
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