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By Neil Baumgardner
WASHINGTON--More than 5,000 members of the International Association of Machinists on Monday went on strike at Pratt & Whitney's (UTX) corporate headquarters and main engine production facility in East Hartford, Conn.
"Their final package was not acceptable," Jim Parent, the chief negotiator for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 91, on Monday told sister publication Defense Daily during a telephone interview. "We went through some tough negotiations and it boiled down to two issues we were not happy with."
The union, which represents the Pratt & Whitney workers, voted on Sunday to go on strike after rejecting the company's final contract offer. Parent said that the offer did not include a large enough pension plan or sufficient job security in the wake of company plans to replace...