October 2025 Newsletter

Advancing Labor Rights through Community Engagement

We’re excited to announce the launch of a new project to engage with local communities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam to advance labor rights – as we know that many of the most persistent labor risks are rooted in systemic issues that extend beyond factory walls. This project, made possible with funding from The Walt Disney Company, will engage with local communities to offer safe and trusted venues for awareness raising and worker voice, close information gaps, build worker confidence, enable proactive risk identification, and protect rights. Read more.

Interested in joining the team? We’re hiring Community Engagement Coordinators in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Learn more.

Mexico Awareness Raising Project Comes to a Close

The Mexico Awareness-Raising Project (MAP), a US Department of Labor-funded project in Mexico, launched in January 2021 to promote information about the 2019 Mexican Labor Reform among workers, employers, and union leaders. As a sub-awardee, SAI worked in partnership with the MAP lead recipient Partners of the Americas (POA) to lead summits, webinars, and technical assistance to raise awareness of these new reforms among automobile, auto parts, aluminum, steel, mining, and electronic industry employers and employer associations in Mexico.

As the project comes to a close, we are proud to reflect on the meaningful work completed by the MAP team, made possible by their dedicated efforts and the many stakeholders committed to improving the lives of workers in Mexico. Read more.

SA8000:2026 Auditor Upgrade Training Launching January 2026

As we begin to transition to SA8000:2026, anyone who completed SA8000 auditor training on the 2014 version of the Standard will need to take a short revision training to maintain their training credential.

Launching in January 2026, the upgrade training will provide participants with the latest requirements, terminology, and human rights due diligence principles introduced in SA8000:2026. Learn more.

➡️ Looking for more information about SA8000:2026? Visit our website!

The Anker Research Institute

Check out the Anker Research Institute's recent Living Wage work:

Updated Living Income and Living Wage reports for Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam

📢 New e-learning course now available! Gender Pay Parity: Advancing Pay Equity in Global Supply Chains is a short, action-oriented course for manufacturing companies working in global supply chains. This course will help employers:

Understand the root causes of gender pay gaps
Identify if a gap exists in their workplace
Learn practical steps to reduce gender pay gaps
Engage in real-world case studies and interactive exercises

This e-learning course is based on the Anker Research Institute’s methodology and research on gender pay gaps in global supply chains. It was produced by improvingworklife for the Anker Research Institute, in collaboration with adidas, Patagonia, and SAI. Learn more.

Brands interested in pre-paying for suppliers to access the course can get in touch with ARI gender lead Sally Smith.