Training Courses
Social Fingerprint� Online Courses
- Getting Started in Your Company
-Building Your Internal Social Performance Team
Webinars
Social Fingerprint� Classroom Course
Development of a Process-based Social Performance Program
Denver, CO, USA
November 13, 2012
Sept 3-7, Istanbul, Turkey
Sept 17-21, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Sept 24-28, Bangalore, India
Sept 24-28, Guangzhou, China
Oct 8-12, Mumbai, India
SA8000 Advanced Auditor Training
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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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 Gender Equity at Work: Seal Finalized by UN Women & SAI SAI & UN Women finalize the Gender Equity Seal to promote fair treatment of men and women in the workplace and supply chain
 Gender equality is a human right and a business imperative. Despite a commitment to gender equity on the corporate agenda, however, progress has not matched aspirations.
In July 2012, SAI, in partnership with UN Women, finalized the Gender Equity Seal (GES) as a new auditable standard and certification system. The GES leverages SAI's extensive experience in management systems for social performance.
GES provides a 'gender lens'- a specialized standard - that can be easily integrated into a company's standard audit whether against an external or company code. It is anticipated that GES will primarily be used on a business to business level with the potential for expansion to a consumer label.
In addition to performance criteria, GES details specific criteria for policies, procedures, training and other management systems components. The intent is to provide companies with a clear roadmap to measure and improve their capacity to, and ultimately, demonstrate their progress in, implementing gender equity policies with a view to ultimately earning GES certification.
The GES was drafted and refined after extensive public consultation, including a multi-stakeholder survey and one-on-one interviews. There was strong confirmation of the rigor and applicability of GES. Below are a few of the hundreds of comments received in a public survey to elicit people's views on the value of a gender certification system:
"This is an important and much awaited initiative. High time that companies inculcate gender equity principles across their supply chain >>Read more
View the GES standard @bit.ly/O5YhkB. For more information, contact SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong - JOng@sa-intl.org.
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India's Labor 'Time Bomb': How to Cut the Fuse
Interview with SAI India Project Director on recent labor unrest in India, and the need for improved worker-manager dialogue
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SAI India Project Director Rishi Sher Singh
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The following interview originally appeared in the Huffington Post Business on August 9, 2012, and was conducted by Dr. John Tepper Marlin:
Last month auto workers at the Maruti Suzuki plant near New Delhi were so angry they killed the plant manager, injured a dozen or more Japanese managers, and set fire to the factory. What was going on in that factory?
I asked Rishi Sher Singh that question two days ago. Singh knows the area and the company. He grew up in New Delhi in a Sikh family -- we spoke the day before the mindless shooting of people attending the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin. Singh has worked in the same industrial area where Maruti Suzuki is located, for a supplier to Maruti.
Singh is now based in Bangalore, where last year he ran 22 workshops to train managers in the implementation of workplace standards and management systems for human resources. He is the India Project Director for the New York-based non-profit organization Social Accountability International (SAI).
He was in New York City for planning meetings with SAI staff (disclosure: I have been married to SAI's president, Alice Tepper Marlin, for 41 years). My questions follow with Singh's answers:
John Tepper Marlin: I was shocked at the violence of the workers on July 18 and by the apparent lack of communication that it indicates between management and workers. Are these reactions merited?
Read the original article on Huffington Post Business @huff.to/MzFEsS. For inquiries, please contact Rishi Sher Singh - Rishi@sa-intl.org. To read more of Dr. Tepper Marlin's work, visit his blog at www.cityeconomist.blogspot.com or follow him on twitter @cityeconomist.
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China's Labor Unions - New Tendrils
Interview with SAI China Lead Trainer about emerging trends in China's labor unions
 | | SAI Lead Trainer, Mike Lee |
The following interview originally appeared in the Huffington Post Business on August 10, 2012, and was conducted by Dr. John Tepper Marlin:
In June 2010, a nonviolent eight-day strike of 1,700 workers at the Honda factory in Zhongshan attracted international attention. Within three weeks, it was the third Honda auto parts factory in Guangdong province to suffer a work stoppage, along with plants in Shenzhen and Foshan.
In addition to the issue of inadequate wages, the workers at the Honda plants were pressing to have their own union, because they felt that the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) was not representing them adequately.
On August 4, I was privileged to talk about these questions with Mike Lee, Lead Trainer for Social Accountability International (SAI) in China. Like Rishi Sher Singh, Lee was in the United States for SAI planning sessions. (See interview above, and note my disclosure that I have been married for 41 years to the president of SAI.)
Lee has his M.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from Northeast China Institute of Electric Power Engineering and a B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from Wuhan University. He has conducted more than 50 SA8000 audits. He is based in Shenzhen, near the site of one of the three Honda plants that had work stoppages in 2010.
John Tepper Marlin: Mike, I thought the ACFTU was supposed to be the only union in China. It's the one that Wal-Mart's workers belong to. Why do you think the Chinese government has allowed the Honda union -- and similar ad hoc worker groups in other factories -- to continue?
Mike Lee: It was a puzzle at first. The theory now is that the government is using the existence of the bottom-up worker representation to put pressure on the national union to be more responsive to worker concerns... >>Read more
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SAI Commits to Clinton Global Initiative
SAI becomes CGI member to drive impact through its global alliance
 SAI is pleased to announce its membership in the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), as a 2012 non-profit, complementary member. This highly competitive complementary membership enables SAI to join hundreds of leaders from a wide array of sectors: business, government, NGOs, foundations and civil society. Through CGI and its members, SAI will specify and fulfill commitments through the CGI model - inspirations, networking, knowledge building and collaboration. "SAI is delighted to become a member of CGI," said SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin. "It aligns with SAI's approach as a multi-stakeholder organization that brings all voices to the table to drive change in supply chains around the world. We look forward to expanding our network and leveraging our experience with the CGI model." According to CGI, member commitments represent "bold new ways to address global challenges - implemented through new methods of partnership and designed to maximize impact. >>Read more For more information, contact SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong - JOng@sa-intl.org. Back to top
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SAI Annual Planning Meeting Convenes in NYC
Activities focused on connecting SAI's diverse staff perspectives to the organization's mission, and looking ahead to the future
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Group photo of SAI staff & meeting participants: (clockwise, from top left) Rishi Sher Singh; Eliza Wright; Doug DeRuisseau; Stephanie Wilson; Matt Applebaum; Marie Rose Coulibaly; Richard Cook; Alan Spaulding; Craig Moss; Melanie Bower (SAAS); Jason Turner; Achim Lohrie (Tchibo); Salah Husseini (SAAS); Harrison Xu; Dr. Mary Watson (The New School); Mike Lee; Jane Hwang; Rochelle Zaid (SAAS); Alice Tepper Marlin; Joleen Ong; Lisa Bernstein (SAAS); Christie Daly; Eileen Kaufman. See more photos from the meeting @ on.fb.me/SnrZpA
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On July 30-31 SAI convened its Annual Staff Planning meeting at New Yorks's Murphy Labor Institute. The purpose of the meeting was to look back at SAI's 15 years of impact, and ahead to plan for its future through group brainstorming and discussion.
New York headquarters staff were joined by SAI field staff from China and India. SAI WE Trainer Harrison Xu spoke about the issue of 'Left Behind Children' in China, where over 58 million children are 'left behind' by their parents who have migrated to work in China's competitive export-manufacturing industry. Mr. Xu discussed possible ways for SAI and our Corporate Members to address this crisis, benefitting workers and their families beyond factory walls... >>Read more
View more photos from the Annual Planning meeting @on.fb.me/SnrZpA. For inquiries, please contact SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong - JOng@sa-intl.org.
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CSR & Human Rights in Peru
SAI partners convene public forum to promote CSR & human rights in the Peruvian workplace
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Snapshots of forum speakers: (from left) Enrique Javier Fern�ndez-Maldonado Mujica, Director of Conflict Resolution and Prevention and CSR, Ministry of Labor of Peru; David Jos� Campana, CSR Consultant, Peru EQUIDAD; Aurelio Manuel Soto Barba, Regional Director for Labor and Employment Promotion for Metropolitan Lima, Ministry of Labor of Peru.
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On June 27, 2012, over 190 participants attended SAI's joint open forum to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) and Human Rights in the Workplace at the Ministry of Labor in Lima. The forum was organized in collaboration with the Peruvian Ministry of Labor, Peru EQUIDAD: Center for Public Policy and Human Rights, and Peru 2021.
The topic for the forum was timely - CSR has gained increasing importance in Peru as the economy becomes more globalized. The government, private sector, and public sector have made substantial efforts to promote best practices in CSR by businesses operating in their country, particularly in the mining industry. Forum attendees represented a diverse group of stakeholders including academia, government and garment manufacturers.
SAI's Latin America Representative Yolanda Brenes presented via teleconference on the SA8000 Standard, SAI's Social Fingerprint� Program, and the importance of Management Systems for sustaining positive change... >>Read more
This article was written by SAI Intern Yu Mei Lay He. For more information, contact SAI Development Manager Eliza Wright - EWright@sa-intl.org.
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New Statistics: SA8000 Around the World
Over 1.8 million workers employed in SA8000 certified facilities
Number of workers, by country:
# Number Employees:
1,840,846
# Certified Facilities:
3,083
# Countries Represented: 65
# Industries Represented: 65
# Accredited Certification Bodies: 21
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Enroll in Global SA8000 & CSR Training Courses
International Locations & Online Courses Available
 | | Participants at the SA8000 Basic Course in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 6-10, 2012. [Photo credit: Sanjiv Singh] |
SAI Training Schedule: 2012 Upcoming: Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Date: September 17-18 Location: Bangalore, India Date: September 24-28
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.
For more information, contact SAI Training Coordinator, Stephanie Wilson at SWilson@sa-intl.org
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Snapshot: SA8000 Training in Indonesia
 | | Participants at the SA8000 Basic Course in Surabaya, Indonesia, July 16-20, 2012. [Photo credit: Badri Gulur] |
On July 16-20, 2012 SAI carried out its SA8000 Basic Auditor Training course in Surabaya, Indonesia. 23 attendees, mostly from companies and certification bodies, participated in the course, from a wide array of countries: India, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, Germany, Malaysia and UAE. SAI Lead Trainer Badri Gulur led the course, with assistance from Yogendra Choudhary. Special thanks to GlobalGroup for organizing a successful training course. Check out SAI's Training Schedule for upcoming 2012 courses @ sa-intl.org/trainingschedule. For more information, contact SAI Training Coordinator, Stephanie Wilson at SWilson@sa-intl.org.
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Highlights & Announcements
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SAI staff with Joe MacDonald, a longtime supporter of SAI, at a post-Annual Planning meeting reception in Long Island, New York. [From left: Mike Lee, Eliza Wright, Joe MacDonald, Alice Tepper Marlin, Joleen Ong, Rishi Sher Singh and Harrison Xu.]
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Sustainable Apparel Coalition On July 25-27 in Hong Kong, SAI Corporate Programs & Training Director Craig Moss participated in the Social and Labor working group of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC). SAC is an apparel and footwear industry group, which has just launched the "Higg Index" that measures the environmental performance of apparel products.
SAC's Social and Labor working group is developing modules to expand the Higg Index to cover social and labor standards. SAI is contributing its expertise to help the Index to include the appropriate indicators to drive accountability and improvement throughout the supply chain.
Call for Feedback - Global Reporting Initiative Anti-Corruption Reporting Guidance The GRI invites feedback on reporting guidance that will help organizations report their anti-corruption performance. This guidance is part of the next generation of GRI's Sustainability Reporting Guidelines - G4. Read the guidance @bit.ly/O7ocM8 & give feedback @bit.ly/Q00Fyj.
Tata Steel Annual Report 2011-2012 The India-based multinational steel giant Tata Steel released its 105th 2011-2012 Annual Report. Notably, the report includes a triple bottom line report on financial, social and environmental impacts. Its section on Human Rights includes mention of its use of the SA8000 standard. Read the excerpt of the report @bit.ly/O5Wvjj & read the full report @bit.ly/O7uxXY.
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