YOUNGSTOWN LTV, union to present to judge a deal on benefits

A requirement that a buyer of LTV plants negotiate with the Steelworkers union has been removed.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- Talk is centered on finding buyers for LTV Steel plants now that the union and company and settled their labor issues.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich said this morning that he has talked to potential buyers.
"We're hopeful we can restart steel in Cleveland," said Kucinich, a Cleveland Democrat.
Judge William Bodoh of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Youngstown approved a labor deal this morning that LTV and the United Steelworkers of America reached Wednesday.
The agreement extends benefits for workers laid off from LTV steel-related plants through Feb. 28 and extends the life of LTV coke plants in Warren and Chicago until at least Jan. 31.
"I hope a buyer will come forward that will keep these facilities in operation, either in whole or in part," Judge Bodoh said.
David Fusco, a Steelworkers lawyer, told the judge that everyone involved in the case must work to find buyers.
The future of union representation at LTV Steel plants is in question, however. The agreement removes provisions that call for future owners to deal with the union.
Fusco declined to comment on how the union will relate to any possible bidder.
The Cleveland-based steelmaker has received permission from the court to shut down its steel operations because it doesn't have any customers and says its almost out of money.
LTV originally sought to canceling its labor contract, which would have ended benefits for laid-off workers immediately.
The deal gives them health care coverage and half of their supplemental unemployment benefits through Feb. 28, which is how long the company has agreed to keep its steel mills idling in Cleveland and Indiana.
An LTV official said in court that the company needs only 190 of the 7,500 workers at LTV Steel while those mills and a finishing mill in Illinois are idling. The Illinois mill is idling for nine months.
By declaring the mills shut down, about 4,200 of the workers will be eligible for pensions, which are guaranteed by a federal agency.
Richard Shaw, an LTV lawyer, said a fund that is paying health care coverage for about 100,000 retirees and dependents will run out of money in the middle of next year.
The deal reached Wednesday provides that 3,500 workers still on the job at LTV Copperweld and LTV's tubular division will continue to work under the existing contract. LTV's tubular division has an office and plant in Youngstown with about 120 workers.
Coke plants are receiving an extra month under the deal because LTV was going to close them Dec. 28 if they weren't sold. Warren's plant employs about 200 workers, although some have been laid off.
Shaw said the coke plants will continue on low production status until Dec. 28. Production then will be stopped, but the furwill be kept warm with natural gas until Jan. 31 to prevent damage to the furnaces.
shilling@vindy.com