John -- No matter where I look, I see Labor Day sales. I can’t help but think about what the holiday means - and the parallels its origin has to today. 
 
In May 1894, workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company walked off the job after their employer laid off more than 2,000 employees and cut wages by 25% while keeping rents and other expenses the same in Pullman, the company town where most workers lived. The owner, George Pullman, refused their requests to meet, firing them instead.
 
A massive protest movement grew in the early days of that summer. Heavy-handed tactics by police and strikebreakers led to violence. A federal injunction was filed to stop the strikers’ “reign of terror,” and 14,000 troops and police descended on strikers, eventually killing several. The strike dwindled after those deaths and some strikers were arrested, sparking later debates over due process. 
 
As a conciliatory gesture, a new national holiday, Labor Day, was declared. Yet American workers gained little from that summer of unrest, and the door for overreaching federal force was opened. 
 
We see echoes of Pullman to this day. Last summer, Appalachian coal workers - just trying to make rent and feed their families - blocked train tracks in protest of being owed back pay. This summer, federal troops plucked BLM protesters off the streets of several cities without due process, spurring much of the violence the administration likes to blame on protesters, people Trump has called “terrorists” - another parallel to the Pullman strike.
 
Today, instead of getting lost in annual sales, support our movement to give American workers the representation they deserve in the Senate. We know Shelley Moore Capito doesn’t care about the workers of West Virginia - especially the coal miners laid off by greedy CEOs who fill her campaign coffers with PAC money. She’s too aligned with Trump to care about the patriots fighting for equality and civil rights. 
 
John, the AMERICAN PEOPLE need one of their own in the Senate. And I need you with me if we’re going to win this for ALL workers in West Virginia and the country. 
 
I hope you and your family are able to take a day of rest today. As for the campaign, we are working around the clock to win this race for every worker in America. 
 
Thank you for your continued support.  
 
Paula Jean