Blessed are the employers

A widely-shared op-ed written by a union attorney tells the tragic story of Margaret Mary Vojtko, who died this month at the age of 83. According to the op-ed, Vojtko was undergoing radiation therapy for cancer at the time of her death, and she’d recently lost her job at Duquesne University, a Catholic-identified school where she worked for 25 years as an adjunct French professor. In that role, the op-ed claims, she received no benefits and never earned more than $25,000 a year. In her final year at Duquesne, she allegedly taught just one class and earned only $10,000.

Duquesne disputes at least some of these facts. It claims that Vojtko “was invited to live with us in the formation community at Laval House on campus,” although it has not specifically denied paying Vojtko such a meager wage or refusing to provide her with benefits. Moreover, the tale of Vojtko’s death is a subplot in a much larger battle of whether the university’s remaining adjunct professors can bargain fairly for an adequate wage. As the op-ed explains, “[w]hile adjuncts at Duquesne overwhelmingly voted to join the United Steelworkers union a year ago, Duquesne has fought unionization, claiming that it should have a religious exemption.”