The New York Times editorial page can make me laugh and scream at the same time. This morning, the page has what can only be described as a strong editorial about the attack on unions. Entitled “Kicked While Down,” the editorial comes down on the Bush National Labor Relations Board for its ruling in the Kentucky River cases.

This is one more step curbing the power of organized labor since President Bush came to office. The administration’s philosophical vendetta against unions has come at a time when their power is already on the wane. Membership has fallen to 7.8 percent of the private work force in this country, from over a third in the 1950’s. Far from balancing the scales, the anti-union drive comes when workers are already at a historic low in bargaining strength. Despite a growing economy and rising productivity, hourly wages adjusted for inflation have declined 2 percent since 2003. Corporate profits, meanwhile, are at their highest share of gross domestic product since the 1960’s.

We are getting closer and closer to a work force with no benefits and no substantive protections. Some unions succumbed to corruption and contributed to their own decline. But their role in giving common workers a voice is essential to a functioning society.

So, you have to wonder what part of the brain the editorial board uses when it supports every so-called “free trade” agreement? I remember when CAFTA passed, the editorial page went out of its way to attack yours truly–yes, I carry that as a badge of honor–when I wrote a blog entitled “Punish The CAFTA 15.” I await the day when the brilliant editorialists at the Times understand that part of the attack on labor and part of the decline in wages for all workers comes precisely from so-called “free trade” agreements. Yes, I know–it won’t come soon.