Wautoma was an organizing hub for States’ first Farmworker Union

How did the City of Wautoma’s population sign from the 1960s end up featured in a mural on Milwaukee’s South Side?
The 90 x 10-foot mural on the Butters Fetting Co. building at 1669 S. First Street honors the 50-year history of United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS) and represents migrant struggles and achievements, Hispanic culture, and the civil rights movement by Latinos in Wisconsin, especially in Milwaukee.
Prominently featured in the mural is Jesus Salas, whose migrant family traveled seasonally from Texas to work in fields in the Midwest, including picking crops in Waushara County. In 1959, Manuel and Argentina Salas and their six sons settled on a farm they bought near Wautoma. Unable to afford the necessary equipment to make farming profitable, the Salases bought a hotel and restaurant in downtown Wautoma and opened Salas Café.
A third-generation migrant worker, Jesus Salas and his family had seen a lifetime of unfair labor practices, squalid housing conditions, and lack of adequate sanitary services in the fields. Migrants also faced an unscrupulous piece-work system—being paid for an amount picked rather than a fair hourly wage.
In his book “Obreros Unidos: The Roots and Legacy of the Farmworkers Movement,” Salas describes reaching out to Cesar Chavez, who was leading California farmworkers to strike and march for better pay, for advice on organizing a march in Wisconsin. He also got guidance from one of his mentors, UW-Madison economics professor Elizabeth Brandeis Raushenbush, who specialized in labor issues among underserved groups. Her 1965 report on migrant working conditions and wages served as further motivation for Salas to organize and fight for better conditions for farmworkers.

In the summer of 1966, Salas, then 22, co-founded Obreros Unidos, the United Workers union, and began to organize with migrants working in Waushara, Marquette, and Portage counties. They planned a march from Wautoma to Madison to protest migrant worker conditions and labor practices. To avoid mass firings and retaliation, organizing had to be done under cover. Sunday pickup softball games were held as covert organization meetings. Father Michael Garrigan at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Wautoma provided meeting space for the migrants whose goal was to get the state agencies to enforce Wisconsin’s progressive labor laws. Minimum wage existed, but it wasn’t enforced. There were housing codes, but not enough inspectors.
The 80-mile march began on August 15, 1966. Only one worker from each of the 10 selected labor camps marched due to fears of retaliation against entire families, who might be fired and lose their housing if the farm owner found out they were involved in the march or the union. Garrison had arranged for the marchers to sleep in church and parish meeting rooms along the route to Madison. After five days of walking, the marchers were greeted at the Wisconsin State Capitol with a reception arranged by Gov. Warren Knowles’ staff.
According to a 2023 article in The Capital Times, the march was covered in newspapers and TV reports throughout the state, but “back home, the Waushara Argus ridiculed the marchers, saying they didn’t truly represent the workers. That claim met with reality at rallies in Wautoma and elsewhere, where hundreds of workers showed their support.”
Salas worked tirelessly to have workers sign up as Obreros Unidos members and led strikes and pickets at growers and processors in the region. Progress came slowly and continued for decades, but the efforts of Salas and Obreros Unidos led to changes in laws surrounding migrant workers, housing conditions, and wage systems. His work also led to the creation of service agencies that helped bring health care and better educational opportunities for Latino students in Milwaukee and throughout Wisconsin.
During the years he was organizing, Salas earned a bachelor’s degree from UW-Milwaukee and a master’s degree from UW-Madison. He continued his fight for migrant rights in Milwaukee and the University of Wisconsin system, including joining with Father James Groppi and the NAACP Youth Council to battle segregation and demand equal rights.
In 2003, Gov. Jim Doyle appointed Salas to the UW System Board of Regents, where he served until 2007. He taught bilingual courses at Milwaukee Area Technical College for 20 years, was a lecturer at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee, and was the first Latino CEO of United Migrant Opportunity Services. Salas still lives in Milwaukee and continues to be an advocate for immigrant and migrant civil rights.