Retirees meeting

Retirees meeting

WARREN

The Warren trustees of the Voluntary Benefit Association health care program for eligible health care retirees of RG Steel and WCI Steel have called a retirees meeting from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday at W.D. Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave. NW.

The meeting relates to the Health Coverage Tax Credit Program retirees have been using since the mill closed in 2012, said Darryl Parker, president of Local 1375 of the United Steelworkers.

EU vows to reverse youth joblessness

PARIS

European youths still face rising joblessness at a rate far higher than their American counterparts — but European leaders insisted Tuesday that scenario is going to improve over the next two years.

Leaders from 24 European nations as well as labor ministers and European Union officials met Tuesday in Paris to talk about youth unemployment. They announced no new programs, but many expressed confidence that plans now in place will reverse the rising joblessness for the under-25 set over the next two years.

With budgets still tight, Europe’s youth unemployment rate stands at 23.5 percent, up from 23.1 percent a year ago. In the U.S., the rate is about 16 percent.

Consumer groups wary of trade deal

BRUSSELS

European consumer groups are worried about the effects of a proposed trade deal with the U.S., fearing a flood of risky or unsafe foodstuffs, medicines and other imports from America.

Monique Goyens, director general of The European Consumer Organization, said Tuesday “this agreement has the potential in a negative sense of changing consumer safety and consumer protection rules.”

U.S. and European Union representatives have resumed negotiations on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Under it, products authorized for sale in America might gain automatic access to EU markets, and vice versa.

Senate advances pharmacy measure

WASHINGTON

The Senate voted Tuesday to advance a bill designed to tighten government oversight of pharmacies that custom-mix prescription drugs, in the wake of last year’s deadly meningitis outbreak tied to contaminated pain injections.

The bill cleared a parliamentary hurdle on a 97-1 vote, indicating its overwhelming support in the Senate. The legislation, passed by the House in September, also creates a national system for tracking prescription drugs from manufacturers to retail pharmacies. Final passage sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature could come as early as today.

The lone vote against the measure came from Sen. David Vitter. The Louisiana Republican is championing a measure to make lawmakers disclose which of their aides are enrolling in the president’s new health care program as part of an ongoing effort to discredit “Obamacare.”

Vindicator staff/wire reports