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Training Courses
-Getting Started in Your Company
-Building Your Internal Social Performance Team
NGOs & Trade Unions
Complimentary seats available for NGO & trade union representatives. For more information, email SAI Training Coordinator Stephanie Wilson at ECrain@sa-intl.org.
View Photos from SAI's Training Courses
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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, Philippines, Switzerland, and UAE.
SAI- Human Rights at Work
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 SA8000: 2014 Pilot in Italy
Testing a New Approach to Certification
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| | SAI Senior Manager of Research and Stakeholder relations, Alex Katz |
Piloting the Integration of Social Fingerprint and the Interpretation and Implementation of the New Standard
On February 16 and 17, SAI's Senior Manager of Research and Stakeholder Relations, Alex Katz, joined Luca Valli and Giulia Bobbolini from CISE (an accredited SA8000 certification body) on a visit to a company named Consorzio Formula Ambiente in Cesena, Italy. The visit was done to pilot the use of Social Fingerprint� as part of an SA8000: 2014 audit. The pilot was the first of three being carried out to test the integration of Social Fingerprint� into the audit system and to understand how organisations seeking to comply with SA8000: 2014 and auditors verifying compliance interpret and implement the Standard's new requirements. Click here to see a video of local news station Legacoop Romagna reporting on the pilot (note: this is an Italian language report). Read More>>
For more information, please contact SAI Senior Manager of Research and Stakeholder Relations, Alex Katz at AKatz@sa-intl.org.
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Stories From the Field
SAI Technical Dir. Badri Gulur Tells How SA8000 Affects a Family
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SAI Technical Director, Badri Gulur
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At SAI, we are always thinking about how our projects and programs are improving the lives of workers in a very practical sense. And it is often the stories from the field that make these impacts more readily apparent and personal. In this installment of "Stories from the Field", SAI Technical Director talks about one of the first times he came face-to-face with the very real impacts of the SA8000 Standard implementation. It was at a factory in Andhra Pradesh, India.
SA8000 Impacts Story:
Remembering 1999, when the SA8000 Standard was still new and in its formative stages, there were early stories of how the standard added value to the lives of the workers, their families and the community. As the Lead Auditor and Country Manager for SA8000 at Bureau Veritas, I was fortunate to have experienced the process for the first ever certification to the SA8000 Standard in many countries. One such experience was an SA8000 certification in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India. The company had arranged a Read More>>
For more information, please contact SAI's Technical Director, Badri Gulur, at bgulur@sa-intl.org
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Windows on the World
SAI President & Founder, Alice Tepper Marlin Speaks at Tata Steel
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.
A highlight of this trip to India
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| Students of the Pipla School for Girls
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(which also
included time at Tata Beverages's hospital and community projects in Munnar, Kerala) was a visit to a Tata Steel community project, the Pipla school for girls. A project of Tata Steel benefiting young girls who dropped out of school to help their families -- for instance in the case of death or grave illness of a parent. The girls come from India's scheduled tribes in rural villages. They typically advance 2-5 grade levels in just Read More>>
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SAI Advisory Board Considering New Members
Openings are Available on SAI's Advisory Board
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| | SAI Advisory Board Members at the Fall AB meeting |
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 Read More>>
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Living Wage Researchers Needed - Groundbreaking Project
Send Expression of Interest for Living Wage Benchmarks Calculations
The Living Wage Group seeks to engage researchers to use the Anker Living Wage methodology in countries where the members of the living wage group certify farm operations and factories. We are interested to partner with researchers who share our mission and with whom we could engage in a longer term partnership to build a robust Living wage database.
Background
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 and ISEAL Alliance to implement a methodology to calculate living wages and to promote the payment of a living wage for Read More>>
For more information, please contact SAI Senior Manager of Research and Stakeholder Relations, Alex Katz at AKatz@sa-intl.org.
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SAI Promotions
Introducing New Positions for Long Time SAI Staff Members
 Christie Daly - Senior Manager of Corporate Programs
We are pleased to announce the promotion of Christie Daly to Senior Manager of Corporate Programs.
Christie has served SAI for over 5 years in a number of key roles. In her previous role as Manager in Corporate Programs, Christie contributed significantly to the effective delivery and growth of custom projects for both Corporate Members and other corporate clients. She has been able to juggle multiple projects covering a range of technical topics and clients. In particular, she was instrumental in the expanded use of Social Fingerprint, managing the Disney Licensee Program and adapting it for use by Read More>>
Richard Cook - Chief Financial & Administrative Officer
We are also proud to announce that Richard Cook, a 10 year veteran of SAI who previously served as our CFO, has been promoted to Chief Financial & Administrative Officer.
Mr. Cook supervises all accounting and administrative systems staff, oversees budget development, annual audits, funder reports, tax filings and prepares interim financial reporting. Read More>>
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SA8000 Training Courses
Photographs from Courses in Bangkok, Thailand
SAI Lead Trainer Sanjiv Singh taught the SA8000 Basic course in Bangkok, Thailand from 9-13 March 2015. Participants included several Certification Bodies, Piaget Watches and VF Corporation and represented Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, UAE, Cambodia, South Korea and Germany.
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Group picture of SA8000 students from the Bangkok, Thailand Basic Course
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Emily Crain, SAI Training Manager caught up with Sanjiv Singh immediately after the course. In Sanjiv's words: It was a pleasure teaching a diverse group of participants that represented the Far East, Middle East, South East Asia, Europe and North America. The experience, knowledge and blend of cultures in the classroom provided a rich learning experience that benefited each Read More>>
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Highlights & Announcements
Intertek Ethical Sourcing Forum
Alex Katz, SAI's Senior Manager of Research and Stakeholder Relations, held a mini-lab at Intertek's Ethical Sourcing Forum on March 26, 2015. During the mini-lab, Alex presented SAI's living wage project and helped guide attendees to overcome confusion on the concept of the living wage, its calculation, and its implementation. For more information please contact Alex at akatz@sa-intl.org.
UL Responsible Sourcing Summit
On March 3 and 4, Christie Daly (Senior Manager for Corporate Programs) and Craig Moss (Executive Advisor) attended the UL Responsible Sourcing Summit in Los Angeles where they presented on TenSquared and SAI's recent work on Living Wage.
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