Free Republic

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. – Aerospace giant Hamilton Sundstrand will eliminate 300 union machinist jobs at its Windsor Locks plant. The work will shift to lower-cost production plants in Poland, Singapore and Arizona, said Daniel P. Coulom, a spokesman for Hamilton Sundstrand. The job losses will take place over the next few months and any forced layoffs won’t happen until late this year, Coulom said. ... The average wage of a union machinist at Hamilton Sundstrand is about $30 an hour, he said. Many of the workers have been with the company for decades Before these cuts, the machinists union represented...

Keeping an army provisioned in the desert is a ballet of logistics, particularly when it comes to supplying two vital liquids: diesel fuel and water. Now, using technologies developed for the space program, the U.S. Army is conducting an experiment that could convert the exhaust pipes of military vehicles into water fountains. Later this month, United Technologies Corp.'s Hamilton Sundstrand unit will deliver two military Humvees to the Army for three months of testing at the Aberdeen Proving Ground outside Baltimore. Built into each vehicle's truck bed is a complex system that can recover water from engine exhaust, purifying as...