SAAS Releases Statement on Activities in Pakistan 

In response to the tragic fire at Ali Enterprises in Karachi, SAAS implements country-wide actions to investigate and enhance the SA8000 system 

In 2011 and 2012, SAAS has been working with SAI and the SAAS Advisory Committee to review and revise its accreditation and certification methodology, improving and clarifying the requirements for the SA8000 system.

The following is an excerpt from SAAS' statement on activities and decisions that have been implemented:  

• All certification bodies (CBs) undertaking SA8000 activity in Pakistan are being required by SAAS to conduct unannounced fire safety inspections at all existing SA8000 clients.  
• SAAS itself will conduct a set of independent, unannounced fire safety inspections at a sampling of SA8000 certified clients in four locations in Pakistan, bringing in qualified inspectors from the Turkish non-profit organization, AKUT Search and Rescue Association. AKUT is a highly respected non-profit organization that delivers emergency and disaster relief. This process will include substantial stakeholder consultation.          
• SAAS has notified all CBs active in Pakistan that no new SA8000 certificates are to be issued until SAAS can conclude its analysis and make any changes to its accreditation and certification procedures that are identified as necessary.     
• SAAS has temporarily suspended consideration of all new accreditation applications due to the ongoing investigations and the anticipated revisions and changes to accreditation and certification methodology.  These revisions will include an increase in the number of unannounced SA8000 audits in high-risk countries, requirements for more in-depth stakeholder consultations, and more rigorous requirements for health and safety and management.      
• The CB that issued the Ali Enterprises certificate, RINA, has agreed to suspend all new activities in Pakistan until the internal investigations and independent assessments of the audit process and outcomes have been completed.

AKUT Returns to Pakistan  

The Turkish NGO AKUT Search & Rescue Association conducts emergency & fire safety assessments in Pakistan  for SAAS 

 On November 11, 2012, the Turkish NGO AKUT Search and Rescue released a statement of its current activities with SAAS in several cities in Pakistan. Below is the statement taken from AKUT's website, translated into English from Turkish by AKUT volunteer and SAI Lead Trainer, Dundar Sahin.     

"In 2006, AKUT participated in an earthquake rescue operation in Pakistan to support the evacuation of people from villages that were heavily affected by landslides and debris. AKUT continue to support the people of Pakistan by providing medical support and materials after the earthquake.

Now AKUT is participating with Social Accountability Accreditation Services (SAAS) - the independent accreditation organization that oversees SA8000 certification - to provide Emergency and Fire Safety Assessment Services to SA8000 Certified factories on behalf of SAAS in several cities in Pakistan. The assessment will include, the fire and emergency mitigations, physical risks in the workplace and emergency response capacity of certified facilities." 

View the original statement in Turkish on AKUT's website. For more information, contact SAAS Program Manager Lisa Bernstein - LBernstein@saasaccreditation.org.   

Multi-Stakeholder Roundtable: Electronics Sector in India 

SAI & Cividep invite stakeholders from the electronics sector to November 30 roundtable   

On November 30, 2012, SAI and the Bangalore-based NGO Cividep will convene a roundtable of local and global stakeholders to engage in social dialogue on challenges in the electronics industry and effective implementation of workplace standards. Expected stakeholders include civil society organizations, companies, manufacturers, trade unions, and international organizations. 

• Introduce the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and how to implement them in the electronics sector as a common code for brands and suppliers
• Identify and prioritize challenging issues
• Discuss strategies to improve working conditions in the electronics sector 
• Propose an Electronics Multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee (E-MAC) for 2013  

To learn more about this event, visit @sa-intl.org/emacs. For inquiries and to register, please contact SAI India Project Director Rishi Sher Singh, Rishi@sa-intl.org. 

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November 27-28, Bangalore: Transforming the UN Guiding Principles into Business Practice

SAI & ICCO to convene a two-day training to help businesses implement the UN Guiding Principles

To assist with that goal, SAI and ICCO developed tools for business and have started a new training course centered on their recent Handbook & Toolkit. Register now for the training in Bangalore, India on Nov. 27-28, 2012. In 2013, this course will be delivered in: 

• Utrecht, The Netherlands- January 28-29 
• Hamburg, Germany - January 31-February 1
• Brazil - Details TBD 

This exercise-driven two-day course will help a company utilize the Handbook & put the UN GPs into practice. It addresses questions concerning:

• Scope of the UN GPs
• Difficulties & challenges with implementing the UN GPs 

Register now @sa-intl.org/UNGuidingPrinciplesCourse. For inquiries, please contact SAI Training Manager Stephanie Wilson at swilson@sa-intl.org. 

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Group photo of participants from the SA8000 Basic Auditor training course in Bangalore, India on September 24-28, 2012. [Photo credit: Badri Gulur]

On September 24-28, SAI convened a Basic SA8000 Auditor Training course in Bangalore, India. There were 20 participants from five different countries: India, Bangladesh, Finland, Kenya and Malaysia. The participants represented trade unions, certification bodies, SA8000 certified companies, independent consulting firms, NGOs, retailers and manufacturing companies. The course was led by SAI Lead Trainer, Badri Gulur. To see more photos from the SA8000 auditor training courses, check out SAI's Facebook page @on.fb.me/Tbex4C. 

Upcoming SA8000 training courses:     SA8000� Basic Auditor Training Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh     Date:  December 2-6, 2012  SAI Training Schedule 2013

SAI training courses are designed to encourage proficiency in social compliance and emphasize the implementation of management systems in combination with performance elements. 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. Complimentary places are available for NGO and trade union participants. 

Snapshot: Election Day in Gurgaon for Worker Representatives

On October 23, 2012, workers at a garment factory in Gurgaon, India lined up to cast their vote for worker representatives for the factory's Internal Social Performance Team. View more photos on SAI's Facebook page @on.fb.me/SIQFqM. [Photo credit: Sanjiv Singh]

On October 23, 2012 workers at a garment factory in Gurgaon, India exercised their right to vote for worker representatives on an 'Internal Social Performance Team.' As part of SAI's Social Fingerprint Program, almost 900 workers voted to elect two workers representatives to be included on the team to help be part of the continual improvement process to ensure decent working conditions in the factory. These teams include representatives from various departments -- such as human relations and manufacturing -- to get diverse perspective. For workers, their representative is always elected. [Note- the worker representatives on the Internal Social Performance Team would not displace union elections.]

For more photos, check out SAI's Facebook page @on.fb.me/SIQFqM.  

Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort in NYC 

After the storm on Oct. 29-30, inspiring volunteer initiatives spring up to help relief effort  

Photos, from left: 1) In Staten Island, one of the many piles of debris that was left after Hurricane Sandy; (right) Inside the St. Francis de Sales gymnasium in Breezy Point, Queens, a makeshift shelter is put together for people to donate goods. View more photos at http://ow.ly/f2nVv. [Photo credit: Stephanie Wilson]

After Hurricane Sandy swept through New York and the surrounding region, the recovery effort has been in full swing. It has been an inspiration to see the wide array of initiatives that popped up to help supplement government relief efforts. Community centers, churches, shelters and peoples' homes have served as central bases for volunteers to come together to take action. Additionally, teams of volunteers have been on the ground to help out with the cleanup in some of the most devastated areas where people have lost their entire homes or have been displaced because of the dangerous flooding.  

SAI and SAAS staff members, who reside in the New York area - Manhattan, Brooklyn, Westchester, New Jersey, Connecticut - all were personally affected by this Hurricane. Fortunately, all SAI staff made it through the storm safely, and some were able to pitch in and help with the recovery efforts. Matt Applebaum, who volunteered at a community center in Red Hook Houses, Brooklyn; Stephanie Wilson, who volunteered with Liberty Church in Breezy Point, Queens and Staten Island; Alice Tepper Marlin, who volunteered at housing projects in Chelsea, Manhattan; and Melanie Bower, who volunteered with the Red Cross of Greater NY.  Below, we highlight their stories:

Matt Applebaum, SAI IT Consultant
Volunteer at a community center in Red Hook Houses, Brooklyn
"On Saturday November 3, my girlfriend Therese, her daughter Ruby and I joined throngs of helpers at the Red Hook Community Center in Red Hook, Brooklyn.  Red Hook is sort of an outlier community. While not far from downtown Brooklyn, it is not well connected by mass transit, therefore a bit isolated.  

A few days earlier, Red Hook was underwater. Driving to the community center took us past countless piles of soaked furniture and appliances, many hard working sump pumps, and several makeshift distribution centers with handwritten signs offering food, water, supplies.
 
The community center in the NYCHA (NYC Housing Authority) Red Hook Houses East was packed with scores of people volunteering and donating much needed supplies, and scores people coming in for needed supplies.  Our goods were quickly accepted and we were quickly put to work.  Tasks included processing donations, sorting them by category, assembling bags with equal distributions (bottled water, rice, beans, flour, juice, canned goods, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene products).
 
While it seemed chaotic, it was well organized.  When one task was done, we just asked someone what they needed, and the next task began. The gymnasium floor became covered with these bags of supplies (see photo).  As they were closing at 6pm, we overheard arrangements being made to transport these supplies to Coney Island, about 10 miles away, the next day.  Since we had a car, we were able to take a large amount of goods ourselves to another center in Coney Island.
 
Coney Island had also been underwater a few days earlier and, and was still without power.  Like Red Hook, it's a rough neighborhood with many tall housing projects.  Our drive there took us past several gas stations with epic lines, and many more that were closed.  At a yellow-cab center,  hundreds of empty taxis waited for the return of fuel.  Coney Island was all dark, drifts of sand blew across the avenue, large piles of it on some side streets.
 
We couldn't find the center we'd been sent to, but we did find a big NYCHA truck with workmen.  They weren't expecting us, but with their help, we delivered our bags to a kitchen area in the nearest building.  Scant temporary lighting in the first floor, pumps running loudly.  Many of the residents had stayed through the storm, many were still upstairs in the dark.  A few days earlier, four feet of water had covered these streets.  The picture of the building above shows how high the ocean spray reached.
 
I returned to my apartment in Chelsea on Sunday. Some normalcy is returning to Manhattan. Supermarkets are busy, without many perishable staples, but that should be remedied soon."

Stephanie Wilson, SAI Training Coordinator
Volunteer with Liberty Church in Breezy Point, Queens and Staten Island, NY.
Last Friday, November 2 and over the weekend, Stephanie worked tirelessly to help with the cleanup on the ground in Breezy Point, Queens, and Staten Island. These two areas were some of the worst hit in New York, where homes were completely destroyed and many people displaced. Stephanie volunteered with her Church - Liberty Church in New York - to help clear the debris from people's front yards and basements.

Stephanie noted the intensity of the devastation, "it was almost like a warzone - but people are so resilient - amazing stories of people just so determined to pick up their lives after this, and not only that but helping others as well." In Staten Island, there were many people on the ground including police, military, FEMA and hundreds of volunteers.

To read more about Liberty Church's Hurricane Relief Effort, visit http://ht.ly/eYfLW. Volunteers are still welcome, as clean up is still much needed.

Alice Tepper Marlin, SAI President
"In my neighborhood of Chelsea in Manhattan, tenants in the Fulton Houses, a project with 944 small apartments - have no heat. Many of the tenants are elderly, some disabled or seriously ill. The weather dipped to the low 30s this evening; such cold can be life threatening. I walked with three 10th graders door to door assessing tenants' needs, so that help like blankets, water, medicine and food can be delivered to them and anyone needing it can be moved to a hospital or helped downstairs to move to a friend's or relative's home. When the call went out in our neighborhood for 30 blankets by 4 PM the same day, hundreds of neighbors streamed in with blankets and winter clothing.

In Peter Cooper Village, some tenants suffer with no electricity, water or heat. People who are elderly, ill or disabled, and unable to climb the up to 14 flights of stairs are trapped in their apartments and uncertain what will happen. There is no definite date the power will be returned to service (they are not served by Con Ed); it could be another two weeks.  They saw waves rise out of the East River, break down the doors of their building, and sweep with debris onto the first floor as well as the basements. I was assigned to walk door-to-door offering batteries and asking if people needed anything.  Others brought water and food.  It was a very well organized effort by the local City Council member's staff.

People were for the most part extraordinarily appreciative and uncomplaining. There were plenty of volunteers and lots of donated food and other supplies to distribute."

Melanie Bower, SAAS Client Coordinator

Melanie is a regular disaster services volunteer with the Red Cross of Greater New York. On Saturday, November 3 Melanie worked for over ten hours, in the emergency communications center, answering phones and directing people to Red Cross Shelters and offering any assistance possible. Shelters were set up in all five boroughs, Long Island and parts of Westchester. Additionally, she helped to populate the Red Cross' Safe and Well website, where the public can log on to search to see if their family and friends are safe. 

https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php.

Melanie noted that there was much frustration from callers who were trying to figure out when their lives could return to normal. "Frustrated, cold, panicked and scared" was how she described the majority of callers who were out of gas and power.  Melanie was inspired by the outpouring of public support to volunteer, but is frustrated at the thought of the seemingly long and expensive road ahead for the recovery. For more information about how to volunteer with the Red Cross, during the hurricane recovery effort and regularly throughout the year, visit www.redcross.org.

There is still much to be done, as it will be a long and expensive recovery ahead. If you are in the New York area, please consider volunteering with one of the organizations listed above. Additionally, we have even met people that have come from as far away as Georgia who have pitched in to help!

For more information, please contact SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong - JOng@sa-intl.org.

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