<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><div><div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><b class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><b class="">For Immediate Release</b> July 27, 2015<br class=""><b class="">Contact:</b> Omar Martínez, 202-721-8158<o:p class=""></o:p></div><p class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""> </span></b></p><p class="Body" align="center" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Upgrading Malaysia’s Status: Bad for Human Rights and American Workers<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></p><p class="Body" align="center" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">“It’s a shame President Obama and his administration will go to such lengths to impose another free trade agreement on American workers.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></i></p><p class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">WASHINGTON, D.C.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""> – Marc Perrone, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), today released the following statement in response to the Obama administration’s decision to upgrade Malaysia’s position in its annual <i class="">Trafficking in Persons </i>report.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">“We are greatly disappointed by the State Department’s decision to upgrade Malaysia in its annual human trafficking report. Removing Malaysia from its tier 3 status is a clear and premeditated political decision by the Obama Administration to eliminate any possible stumbling block for the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">“At a time when American workers are grappling with increasing uncertainty, income inequality and stagnating wages, this administration and this Congress have shown they would rather protect corporate interests over the concerns of everyday American workers. Hard-working men and women will now lose their jobs or struggle to earn a good income because of a trade deal negotiated in secret by for-hire special interest henchmen.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">“Labor and human rights cannot, and should not, be negotiated to appease the economic interests of a few. The workers of Malaysia and of America deserve better. Shame on you for prioritizing a trade agreement over the well-being of America’s hardworking families.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" align="center" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">###<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" align="center" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Join the </span></i><a href="http://www.ufcw.org/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span class="Hyperlink0" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; color: blue; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">United Food and Commercial Workers International Union</span></span></a><i class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""> (UFCW) online at </span></i><a href="http://www.ufcw.org" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span class="Hyperlink1" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; color: blue; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">www.ufcw.org</span></span></a><i class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></i></p><p class="BodyA" align="center" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">We are 1.3 million families standing together to build an economy that every hard-working family deserves.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></i></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class=""> </span></div></div></div></body></html>