Airlines and coalmines may not be quite the same thing, yet this week could turn out to be Silvio Berlusconi's Thatcher moment. The Italian right-wing prime minister and media tycoon has been desperately trying to keep Alitalia flying. But all his latest salvage efforts for his country's stricken flag carrier have been blocked by the intransigence of a relatively small group of hardcore unions interested above all in protecting their power and privileges.
These unions, including one representing about 1,000 highly paid pilots, have little public support - not unlike Britain's old National Union of Mineworkers when Margaret Thatcher decided to take them on. The confrontation between the Conservative prime minister of the day and the miners turned into a seminal moment for British labour relations. Mr Berlusconi has the opportunity to do the same in Italy.
