The UFWis indeed, ashecontends, a shadowofits former self, but the odds against iteversucceeding as a conventional Labour union were always impossibly large.
UFW, which in the mid-1970s under Cesar Chavez had 80, 000 members, now claims only around 27, 000, and some observers say the real figure is as low as 8, 000.
Chavez essentially blew the latter half of the 1970s on these tangents, demanding UFW leadership to become an appendage of Synanon and work out deep thoughts about what it meant for people to live together in community.