Tom Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said that given the financial turmoil, it was "remarkable" that the 3, 000 current and laid-off workers represented by the union will still have retirement benefits.
The ICBL claims that there are 119 million mines laid world-wide, and therefore that at the current rate of clearance it will take 1, 000 years to clear them.