Director of Retirees

Emily Lane

January 2025

Happy New Year Everyone!

I am looking forward to seeing what the New Year brings. There were a lot of changes during the last couple of years. The passage of the end of the WEP and GOP will make a huge difference in retirement earnings. It has been a long time coming and one that I never thought I’d see. When I was President of the State Association, we fought hard to get this bill passed to no avail. All we ever heard was that it scored too high. Finally, a blessing for the Civil Service Retirees.

I started my career with the Postal Service as a substitute rural carrier in 1977 (non career). I became the first female PTF carrier in Spartanburg in August of 1979, joined the Union then. In February of 1980, I was sent to Greer due to a shortage of carriers. I joined the Union at Greer and paid dues to both Spartanburg and Greer for almost a year. We finally got double dues stopped. My service in Greer lasted for 35 years. I can’t believe that I have been retired for 13 years. I know some of the old timers have been retired a lot longer. I had a break in service because I got mad at the members of my branch but after a year, they asked me to get back involved and represent the branch again. I do regret what happened but should have handled it differently. Once a Union member at heart, always a Union member, no matter what capacity you are in. Always look out for the best interest of the branch and the membership.

I have been married this month for 56 years. My husband has been to the conventions and supported me thru it all. I have met some fantastic people through out the US. I have had some scary experiences during my career and some true blessings. Some funny things have happened also. Kids putting a cat in the mail box, birds flying across the vehicle , a snake dropping out of a tree that I had to go under but the best was probably having a customer call the cops because the supervisor was following me during street observation. One of the worst was a child falling off the back of the vehicle, he had climbed up while I was serving the box. I have made a lot of friends and some who hate my guts. Cherish all of the experiences that you have and never forget that God has a plan for each of us.

Emily Lane

Director of Retirees

Director of Retiree Article – May 20, 2026

It seems that once a person becomes inactive in the everyday delivery of mail, interest is lost. There are over 2000 retirees in South Carolina and very few of those really care about the post office or the active carriers. Even as retirees, you should still care and be aware of what is going on in the world of the PO that they don’t have to go to everyday. Think about what the retirement system might become if the Postal Service is privatized. How long will a carrier have to work before they can retire? What will their annuity be calculated on (3 or 5). Each little change can be drastic results for all of us.

Here are a list of bills that we all need to know about:

S .Res 147 – for the PO to remain an independent establishment of the federal government and not subject to privatization

H. Res 70 – is the House version of S. 147

H.R. 2174 – would prohibit automatic deduction for union dues and political contributions from pay-checks

H. R. 2193 – new requirements to verify eligibility of family members added to the FEHB

H. R. 1295 – empowers the President to restructure and reorganize the federal government, reducing the federal workforce

H. R. 1210 – requires labor organizations to compensate federal agencies for resources and official time

H. R. 2249 – gives the President power to negotiate and modify collective-bargaining agreements and terminate any provisions that conflict with presidential policies or orders

I have always heard that with one stroke of a pen that we could lose everything that carriers have fought for 100 years beginning with the pony express.

Please contact your Congressional Representative ( Senator and Congress Rep.) Don’t think that it doesn’t have anything to do with me. That could be the worst mistake that you ever make.