A New Generation of Labor Causes

Today we are joined by Jon Melrod and Tyler Daguerre
Jon Melrod was born into the political and cultural quiescence of the 1950's and grew up in apartheid-like Washington DC. Active in the student movement that opposed the Vietnam War and a supporter of black liberation, Jon embraced the ideology that the working class held the power to radically transform society. He left the campus for the factory in 1973. For thirteen years, he immersed himself in the day-to-day struggles of Milwaukee’s working class, both on the factory floor and in the political arena. Despite FBI surveillance and interference, Jon organized a militant rank-and-file caucus and rose through union ranks to a top leadership position in UAW Local 72. After a mass workforce cutback imposed by AMC’s joint venture partner Renault, he left to attend Hastings college of the law in San Francisco in 1985. Graduating cum laude with a JD, he opened a law firm in San Francisco successfully representing hundreds of political refugees. Jon is also the author of the soon-to-be-released book, Fighting Times (September 27, 2022)- PM Press, ISBN 1629639656
Tyler Daguerre is a Law School Graduate, barista and Organizer with Starbucks Workers United in Massachusetts.