Mindless

What are trades unions for? I ask the question because there is the most extraordinary battle going on in Italy at the moment.

I have never belonged to a trade union because I have worked either for myself or in industries which permitted me to negotiate my own salary and benefits; also where it was simple to move from one job to another. It suited me not to be lumped together with everyone else, I believed, so that if I was better I could be rewarded accordingly.

This applies to many industries but I should have thought to none so much as professional sport and in particular football. There is a discernible difference between Wayne Rooney and an ordinary member of a lesser team and their income is awarded accordingly.

And yet the Italians have somehow contrived to set up a union for top players - Serie A as it is called here and there is an employers' union to match it. And of course they are now on strike.

It doesn't take me much thought to find the prospect of top footballers going on strike - people earning millions a year, don't forget - quite revolting. They are entertainers, nothing more than that, and they should feel gratitude and responsibility towards the people who pay them, the fans.