California passed landmark legislation Intended to protect the right of farmwokers to engage in and benefit from collective bargaining. By the late 1970s the United Farm Workers lied negotiated collective bargaining agreements on behalf of an estimated 70.000 California farmworkers and thousands more in other States. For the first time.. migrant workers were able to obtain medical benefits. pensions. unemployment benefits. and other basic protections that most Americans take for granted. Neither the United Farm Workers nor migrant workers benefited from the Reagan era. Many of the gains achieved by the United Farm Workers In the 1970s were lost in the 1980s. George Deukmejians appointments to the Agriculture Labor Relations Board turned Californias farm worker labor law from an asset to a liability.