The Way Forward

The progress achieved in the first year can be credited to the strong collaboration between TTCU and the senior leadership of Eastman Exports, who have been very open to bringing transformative changes within the factory. Due to the positive impacts of the Agreement in the first year, Eastman Exports will be implementing the best practices learned from this experience in other units. This signals how such bold initiatives that center workers’ collective voice, unionmanagement cooperation, and are backed by brands’ commitments to use their leverage to create GBVH-free workplaces have the potential to reshape the industry. Brands have the opportunity to play a pivotal role in advancing such initiatives by sourcing from Eastman to ensure sustainability of this important anti-GBVH work. Finally, the first year of implementation has demonstrated the potential for success of similar agreements with other suppliers and in other regions.