24-hour prayer vigil begins on eve of LTV court hearing

YOUNGSTOWN -- Religious leaders from the Youngstown and Cleveland areas were planning a 24-hour Prayer Vigil for Justice starting this afternoon to prepare for a hearing Tuesday in the federal bankruptcy court in Youngstown, which could affect the future of LTV Steel.
The vigil was to begin at 3 p.m. today in front of the federal courthouse at the corner of Market and Front streets downtown. The public is invited.
Judge William Bodoh will hear the Cleveland-based company's request Tuesday to shut down all its basic steelmaking operations and to throw out its bargaining agreement with the United Steelworkers of America.
The shutdown would affect about 7,500 employees, including about 200 at the LTV Steel Coke Plant in Warren, and would eliminate health benefits and reduce pension payments for between 6,000 and 7,000 retirees living in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys.
Elsie Dursi, director of the Mahoning Valley Association of Churches, and the Rev. D. Larry Kline, pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Youngstown, are among the local leaders initiating the vigil.