The President of SAI, Alice Tepper Marlin, recently traveled to Jamshedpur, India on a visit to Tata Steel, where she delivered their "Windows on the World" monthly lecture to Tata Steel officers. Discussions included corporate responsibility towards workers and society, Indian labour laws, management system and policy, budget, training, insurance facility, and the rights and safety of contract workers. She urged the Indian government to take tougher enforcement measures in the larger interest of the workers. Due to corruption and lack of effective implementation of the laws, the 70 per cent or more of Indian workers who work in the unorganized sector are deprived of their basic rights.

Ms. Tepper Marlin praised Tata Steel and recognized it as a stellar benchmark among Indian companies. Tata Steel was the world's first integrated steel plant to achieve SA8000 Certification, in 2004. The company has maintained and expanded the scope of its SA8000 certification ever since. In 2004, with not only 8,000 Tata employees on site but also 24,000 construction workers on site working for contractors in a major facility expansion,  the extension of SA8000 conditions to the contractor workers posed a huge challenge. Tata Steel faced it remarkably well.

To implement occupational health and safety provisions,  the company adopted an awareness and training program for the health and safety of its contract workers with positive results and provided health care to these workers. Bamboo scaffolding tied with rope was replaced with steel scaffolding that gave workers solid flat surfaces for standing. The company is now proceeding in the right direction with an ambitious zero accident goal and exploring ways to better integrate workers in the design and implementation of safety improvements. Alice commended Tata Steel for these accomplishments and for their larger interest of addressing workers at the global level, on issues of human rights and health of workers.

Students of the Pipla School for Girls

Student of the Pipla School for Girls

The confident, poised girl in the photo above is showing me her school project. She was forced by poverty to drop out of school, but saved by the Pipla project to fill education gaps, adequately nourish them, & return to school. The Pipla school transforms these girls in just 11 months!  

We value your input and invite indications of interest and nominations.  Because of our rules limiting the number of terms an AB Member can serve, seats are now available on SAI's multi-stakeholder Advisory Board.  The Advisory Board of SAI sets policy recommendations relevant to SAI's mission and its implementation. It also decides on and issues the periodic revisions to SA8000 and its Guidelines. 

We have openings in both the Business and Civil Society (e.g., trade unions, NGOs, academics) sectors.  Prospective candidates should have related experience and skills. The position is voluntary and requires attendance at our 3-day semi-annual meetings, participation in an AB committee and availability for at least 4 days of specialized service as requested and volunteered.

At present, attention to the topic of a Living Wage (LW) is growing due to declining wage shares worldwide, widening wage and income inequalities and growing interest in corporate social responsibility. Since 2013, Fairtrade International, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), GoodWeave, Sustainable Agriculture Network/Rainforest Alliance (SAN/RA), Social Accountability International (SAI), and UTZ Certified are working in a group facilitated by ISEAL Alliance to implement a methodology to calculate living wages and to promote the payment of a living wage for workers that are protected by their respective labour standards. The long term goal and shared mission of our six organisations, as expressed in our joint statement is to see improvements in workers' conditions, including wage levels, in the farms, factories and supply chains participating in our respective certification systems and beyond.

So far, the LW working group has come to a common definition of living wage as well as an agreed process for devising and testing the living wage methodology, currently being finalized by Richard and Martha Anker that will form the basis of a training manual to calculate living wage benchmarks in rural and urban contexts. The methodology has been tested during four pilot studies in South Africa , Dominican Republic, Kenya and Malawi. Once completed, the manual and other materials will form the basis of a five-day workshop to train 20-25 researchers and standards professionals of the six organizations to learn how to replicate the methodology.

Objectives of the Consultancy

The Living Wage Group seeks to engage researchers to use the Anker Living Wage methodology in the countries where the members of the living wage group certify farm operations and factories. Implementation of the methodology needs to occur in a harmonized way to ensure consistency and quality, and therefore, legitimacy among relevant stakeholders. The researchers will have the opportunity to attend a tailor made training lead by international LW experts Richard Anker and Martha Anker. Following the training, the trainees will apply the methodology in their country to complete a LW report. The draft reports will be evaluated by Richard and Martha Anker and/or a designated expert before reports are finalised and published. We are interested to partner with researchers that share our mission and with whom we could engage on a longer term partnership towards building a robust Living wage database.

Country Priorities

The selected focus countries where one (or multiple site) LW benchmarks will be calculated and that fall under the scope of this call are:

 - Brazil

- China

- Ethiopia

- Ghana

- India

- Mexico

- Tanzania

- Vietnam

The above set of country studies will be followed in the near future with a second set of country studies as part of our ambition to gradually build a LW database for a wide number of countries. Therefore, in your application, please indicate the country you are applying for as well as possible interest in conducting future additional studies in other countries mentioned below.

 Future LW benchmarks include (not to be commissioned under the scope of this call for proposal):

 Rwanda, Uganda, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Peru, Pakistan, Chile, Philippines, El Salvador, Argentina, Panama, Bolivia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Laos, Nepal, Cote D'Ivoire, Egypt, Jamaica, Madagascar, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, Tunisia, Turkey, United States, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Mozambique.

Deliverables

The selected researchers will be expected to produce a high-quality report documenting the application of the Anker LW methodology and key findings in the country where living wage benchmarks will be calculated.

 The selected researchers will be required to attend a 5 days training workshop delivered by Richard and Martha Anker. For India and China specifically, due to the complexity of the context and diversity of the country, the training will be extended by one to two days to discuss how to do LW benchmarks in multiple sites and regions within India and China. For India and China, this initial training workshop is expected to be followed up by a country based training workshop as part of the initial benchmark calculation(s).

 In order to complete the requirements of our LW approach, the researchers will have to follow a number of agreed upon steps including but not limited to undertaking preliminary desk research, collecting field data, mapping relevant stakeholders and organising stakeholder consultation. Finally, when the report is in an advanced form, the researcher will need to present his or her findings to a multi-stakeholder validation event or process to finalise the report that will be organized jointly by the standard setting organization.

 More detailed terms of reference and linked deliverables for each LW benchmark commissioning will be further discussed with the candidates during the contracting phase. For example adjacent deliverables could be agreed upon (including potential multiple national benchmarks calculation and or additional wage and cost analysis research). These agreements are considered additional to the standard LW report and will be discussed with the candidates on a case by case basis.

Timeline and Budget

It is expected that the researcher will complete the assignment over several months .

The researchers must be available to attend a training event between 11th and 15th of May in Istanbul, Turkey.

 For China and India benchmarks, the training will be extended to May 17th. Additional China and India specific trainings will be occurring for a 5 day period in China and India respectively. The China and India trainings will occur within 3-5 months of the first original training with dates to be determined.

The researchers will need to be available to conduct the field work in June/July 2015. With the expectation of China and India, a first draft report should be completed before 1st of August 2015. The final reports are to be validated and finalised before the end of 2015.

We estimate that approximately 20 to 25 working days and 5 to 7 training attendance days will be required to complete one LW benchmark report. The estimated budget available for each benchmark report is up to Euro 10,000. Submitted proposals should include costs in a day rate including all additional expenses and taxes. Please note that if multiple benchmarks in a country (e.g. rural and urban) are required and/or adjacent wage/cost research is requested, an additional budget will be made available for these extra tasks.

 Travel, food and accommodation expenses will be paid to support participation in the training workshop. Candidates will not receive consultancy fees for attending the training workshops.

Requirements

• Have at least 5 years of research experience including extensive experience with collection of primary data, with a track record in the field of labour and livelihoods.
• Knowledge and experience analysing household survey data and secondary analysis of data.
• Understanding of terms and conditions of work and living conditions in the research countries (rural and urban)
• Fluency in English and fluency in local language of research countries.
• Social science background - at least a Masters' Degree (preferably a PhD) in a Social Science or related discipline such as economics, sociology, demography.
• A publication record in reputable journals is an advantage.

Expression of Interest

All parties who wish to express an interest in this assignment should send a statement of interest in carrying out the work and qualification in light of the above mentioned criteria. It is important to indicate suitability and availability to conduct benchmarks in particular countries. Researchers that are not immediately retained may be considered for future training and living wage benchmark calculations.

Submissions process:

A CV and short statement of interest should be submitted to Natalie Gawor (natalie@isealalliance.org) on or before the close of business (5pm GMT) on Tuesday 31st of March 2015.

 The submission shall include the following information:

1. Name(s) and contact information of main investigator and main contact person

2. An indication of the LW country/countries or region you are applying for.

3. A presentation of the researcher (or team), including a summary of experience, relevant knowledge and relevant publications or studies (including references or links to those) and an annex with short CVs (preferably no longer than 2 pages each)

4. A statement that the relevant members of the research team are available to conduct the work within the time frames set out in the TOR.

5. A brief explanation about why the team is interested in conducting the work and how the team plans to structure its work (max 1 page

For more information, please contact SAI Senior Manager of Research and Stakeholder Relations, Alex Katz at AKatz@sa-intl.org.