08/30/2026
đź“ś COLUMBUS COUNTY CONNECTIONS
SHE STARTED DELIVERING MAIL IN LAKE WACCAMAW. THEN SHE BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN TO LEAD A POSTAL UNION IN U.S. HISTORY.
In 1981, Jeanette Dwyer began working as a substitute rural mail carrier in Lake Waccamaw.
Thirty years later, she was elected president of a national union representing more than 100,000 United States Postal Service employees.
Her election made history.
Dwyer became the first woman elected president of a postal union in the history of the United States Postal Service.
STARTING IN LAKE WACCAMAW
Jeanette P. Dwyer was born in Lake Waccamaw.
She began her postal career in 1981 as a substitute rural letter carrier at the Lake Waccamaw Post Office.
Substitute carriers filled routes when regular carriers were absent.
The work involved organizing and loading mail, driving long rural routes, delivering packages and letters, collecting outgoing mail and reaching homes spread across large areas.
Rural carriers also faced unpaved roads, bad weather, vehicle problems and long distances between customers.
In 1987, Dwyer became a regular rural carrier with an assigned route.
GETTING INVOLVED IN THE UNION
Dwyer joined the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, commonly known as the NRLCA.
The organization represents rural mail carriers during contract negotiations with the Postal Service and assists members with grievances, discipline, pay and workplace conditions.
Dwyer began as a local union steward.
A steward represents employees when disputes arise between workers and postal management.
She later became the North Carolina state steward, giving her responsibility for representing rural carriers across the state.
Dwyer’s rise did not begin in a national office.
It began with delivering mail around Lake Waccamaw and helping coworkers resolve problems on their routes.
FROM NORTH CAROLINA TO THE NATIONAL BOARD
In 2002, Dwyer was elected to the NRLCA’s national board.
She worked on appeals, employee-representation procedures and materials used by union stewards around the country.
In 2008, she was elected national vice president.
Three years later, delegates from across the United States gathered in Savannah, Georgia, for the organization’s 107th national convention.
On August 19, 2011, they elected Jeanette Dwyer national president.
It was the first time any postal union in United States Postal Service history had elected a woman as its president.
The rural carrier from Lake Waccamaw was now leading a national labor organization.
REPRESENTING MORE THAN 100,000 WORKERS
As president, Dwyer represented more than 100,000 rural postal employees.
The union’s members served tens of thousands of routes and delivered mail to millions of homes and businesses.
Rural carriers did far more than place letters in roadside mailboxes.
They collected packages, accepted certified mail, sold stamps and money orders and provided services to customers who lived far from a traditional post office.
Dwyer described rural carriers as a “post office on wheels.”
Her responsibilities included national contract negotiations, congressional testimony and discussions with senior Postal Service officials.
THE FIGHT TO SAVE SATURDAY MAIL
One of the largest fights of Dwyer’s presidency began when Postal Service leaders proposed eliminating regular Saturday mail delivery.
The Postal Service was losing billions of dollars as traditional mail volume declined and financial obligations increased.
Management argued that reducing delivery from six days to five could save approximately $2 billion annually.
Dwyer argued that eliminating Saturday delivery would hurt rural communities most.
Some rural residents depended on the mail for prescription medication, checks, business documents and other essential deliveries.
Residents without nearby post offices could be forced to drive long distances or pay private delivery companies for services they previously received through the mail.
Dwyer also believed reducing service would weaken the Postal Service’s greatest advantage: its ability to reach nearly every American address.
TESTIFYING BEFORE CONGRESS
In 2013, Dwyer appeared before the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
She testified as the national president of the rural carriers’ union.
Dwyer told senators that the union represented more than 101,000 bargaining-unit employees who served approximately 73,000 routes.
Those carriers were driving more than 3.5 million miles each day and delivering to over 40 million mailboxes.
The average rural route exceeded 48 miles, while the longest stretched more than 170 miles.
Dwyer warned that reducing delivery days, closing post offices and lowering service standards could abandon the Americans who depended most heavily on the postal system.
She argued that the Postal Service needed to develop new products and sources of revenue instead of attempting to survive only by cutting services.
CONFRONTING THE POSTMASTER GENERAL
Dwyer’s disagreement with Postal Service leadership became public.
After Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe announced plans to move toward five-day mail delivery, the NRLCA’s national board called for his dismissal.
Dwyer questioned whether the postmaster general possessed the legal authority to eliminate Saturday delivery without congressional approval.
Congress ultimately continued including language in federal spending legislation requiring six-day mail delivery.
Regular Saturday delivery remained in place.
A NATIONAL AGREEMENT
In 2016, the NRLCA and the Postal Service reached a tentative national labor agreement during Dwyer’s presidency.
The agreement provided wage increases, cost-of-living adjustments and increased vehicle-maintenance allowances for rural carriers who used their own vehicles.
It also included bereavement leave for employees following the death of a family member.
Union members approved the agreement.
Dwyer remained national president until 2018, when she chose not to seek another term.
She later returned to the national board and continued serving the organization.
FROM ONE RURAL ROUTE TO NATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Jeanette Dwyer’s career began with filling in on rural mail routes around Lake Waccamaw.
She became a regular carrier.
Then a local steward.
Then North Carolina’s state steward.
Then a national board member.
Then vice president.
Finally, she became the first woman elected president of a postal union in United States Postal Service history.
She sat across from national postal executives, negotiated for workers and testified before members of the United States Senate.
But the career that eventually took her to Washington began at the Lake Waccamaw Post Office in Columbus County.
đź’¬ Did Jeanette Dwyer ever deliver mail to your family around Lake Waccamaw?
