bmerberg

@bmerberg@universeodon.com

Interests include #work, #labor, #antiwork, #ukulele, organizational #psychology, #unions, #caturday.

I publish Heigh Ho, a spunky, evidence-based newsletter delving into work and wellbeing. Recent topics include working life as it relates to #climate, #popculture, #labour, and #music.

Profile header is an image of a marquee reading "Working Life."

Profile photo is me in front of the giant "Under the Table" display at LA's Broad Museum.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

ben, to random
@ben@werd.social avatar

I've left Substack. Here's why, and how it's going to work: https://werd.io/2023/leaving-the-nazi-bar

bmerberg,

@ben Ben, mind if I ask:

Why a blog AND a newsletter?

(Also, saw on your profile that you co-founded Elgg. Wow. I followed it in its early days, but lost track quite some time ago. Bravo.)

bmerberg, to workersrights

"The business world’s insistence that satisfying jobs can only come at a financial cost to workers serves primarily to defend and reinforce a flawed system designed to provide employees with as little as possible. Talking up how much pay (real or imagined) workers are willing to sacrifice is tantamount to talking down wages."

https://heighho.substack.com/p/pay-benefits-wages-tradeoff-work-home-pay-cut

mattblaze, to random
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

"Mastodon is great because it gives you tools to curate your own experience without depending on any centralized authority. Also, everyone here needs to follow these 5000 rules I made for what and how they should post."

bmerberg,

@kcarruthers May I ask how your Bluesky experience has been? After months of waiting for an invite, I finally got one and then lost enthusiasm halfway into creating my account. (It wasn’t a reflection of the platform. I just got to asking myself whether I really wanted another social media account.) I haven’t even looked at anything there.

bmerberg, to workersrights

💸 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 $𝟏 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧

3 ideas for fast food operators looking to save $1 million: 1) Don't steal workers' tips 2) Don't bounce paychecks 3) Don't schedule kids as young as 14 to work late at night (especially on the slicer). For these revelations, we thank 14 California Subway operators who did the opposite and were fined nearly one million dollars.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230929

bmerberg,

@kkarhan Sorry... I'm not sure I follow. You're saying the franchisees who got fined are not the ones who committed the crime and should not have been penalized?

bmerberg, to random

Well, her resolve to trust the Lord lasted longer than my New Year's resolution to eat less candy (but not by much):

"Before her plea, Ellis was defiant, posting in August ..., 'The Democrats and the Fulton County DA are criminalizing the practice of law. I am resolved to trust the Lord.'”

https://apnews.com/article/jenna-ellis-plea-deal-georgia-election-case-c4dbacd3e4bbb5415ebd3d42d8fa3128

bmerberg, to Economics

Claudia Goldin just won the Nobel Prize in . She’s best known for her work on how “Greedy ” limits equity and the advancement of women in the workplace.

“Goldin argues for systemic workplace reforms rather than the hearts-and-minds type of change so often advocated by girlbosses, self-help writers, and corporate feminists. Goldin, refreshingly, rejects any Lean In–type advice as ‘quick-fix notions’ utterly unable to address the fact that our ‘work and care systems are relics of a past when only men had careers and families.’ Greedy work, to be blunt, assumes that the worker has a wife at home. It therefore forces one-half of many couples to, if not stay home full-time, then prioritize the domestic front, choosing less well-paid jobs that offer greater structure and flexibility so their partners can work whatever hours their bosses demand.”

— The New Republic

https://newrepublic.com/article/164263/gender-pay-gap-starts-home-career-family-claudia-goldin

bmerberg, to workersrights

In this post, I've included commentary from 22 dishwashers — the people, not the machines — who I asked about passion and meaning in their work.

Don't miss the embedded 45-second video, which may leave you with an earworm that helps you get through the of your day.

➡ "𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑟, 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑤 '𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑑' 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙."

https://heighho.substack.com/p/dishwasher-meaningful-work-passion-love-job

maxleibman, to workersrights
@maxleibman@mastodon.social avatar

Company culture isn’t what you say it is, it’s what you all do every day. It’s the unspoken rules and mores. It’s the thing that nobody has to talk about, but everybody follows.

It can be influenced, but it can’t be “decided” (at least not by one person). Culture is emergent, evolved. It is not chosen.

If you can point to it and say you designed it, what you are talking about is not your company culture.

bmerberg,

@maxleibman I usually ignore posts/books/presentations about company culture because they’re delusional. Yours is the first valid comment on the topic I’ve come across in some time.

Thoughts about the distinction between company culture and organizational climate?

bmerberg, to random

Given your current salary/wage, which would you prefer:

  1. 𝟰-𝗱𝗮𝘆 '𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱" 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀, with 32-hour weeks and the same workload you have now.

  2. 𝟴-𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝟱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 (sabbatical must be taken in 8-consecutive weeks — in addition to your usual PTO — to do whatever you want, but ideally with some goal related to personal or prof'l development).

[Boosts greatly appreciated.]

robertnorlyn, to random
@robertnorlyn@mstdn.social avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    bmerberg,

    @robertnorlyn I use them excessively.

    I started using them a long time ago when I noticed that a favorite author/teacher used them a lot. Then I started using them habitually. Recently, I've also become aware of increasing use of parentheses and ellipses.

    Sadly, they're all a reflection of how my mind works.

    bmerberg, to Unions

    “‘We’re Doing All the Baking, but Cornell is Eating the Whole Damn Pie’”: Cornell Graduate Students United Begins Card Drive for Unionization”

    https://cornellsun.com/2023/09/06/we-do-all-the-baking-and-cornell-eats-the-whole-damn-pie-cornell-graduate-students-united-begins-card-drive-for-unionization/

    Free_Press, to news
    @Free_Press@mstdn.social avatar

    A total of 12 dinner guests (rubes) paid the entrance fee - $100k a plate.

    No word on how much Trump will take off the top before giving remainder to Rudy - my guess is 50%

    Donald Trump hosts $100,000 a head fundraiser to help Rudy Giuliani pay legal bills

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-08/trump-hosts-100-000-per-person-bedminster-fundraiser-to-help-giu/102832818

    bmerberg,

    @Free_Press I’ll guess 100%. At least. 💸

    bmerberg, to Unions

    "The fact that HR experts, authors, and business leaders prattle on about belonging and teamwork, while doing everything they can to squelch unity, exemplifies the depth of the charade. They stirringly tweet allegiance to DEI, while thwarting one of the most effective instruments for reducing workplace inequity — collective bargaining."

    From "How Can Unions Be Resurgent When Membership Rates Are at an All-Time Low?
    (Confessing my journey out of union skepticism. And a new playlist)

    https://heighho.substack.com/p/union-labor-labour-resurgent-membership-approval

    Deglassco, (edited ) to history

    Field hollers, work songs, shouts, & cries held immense significance for enslaved Black Americans. Sounding like noise to slaveowners, these songs conveyed secrets through encrypted codes, retold Bible stories, or offered solace. They bore witness to the resilience & endurance of the enslaved, forging a legacy that impacts musicians worldwide.

    1/

    https://youtu.be/C-zlSq4mWiE

    https://youtu.be/ZPrZ-YsD6sc

    @blackmastodon @BlackMastodon

    bmerberg,

    @Deglassco Brilliant. Thank you for this compelling, well researched, and eloquently written thread. As I read through, I kept thinking, “I hope they cite the source material,” so I can delve in further on my own. Of course you did.

    breadandcircuses, (edited ) to environment

    ⬇️ This is a fact. ⬇️

    It’s not a meme. It’s not an opinion. It’s a fact — a fact I wish everyone could accept, take to heart, and use to motivate action!!

    #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateAction #ClimateJustice #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual

    bmerberg,

    @sargasso I’m not an expert, but what you’re saying resonates. I don’t think it makes sense to absolve consumers, who, somewhere along the line, manifest insatiable demand for all the products and by-products made by the corporations we prefer to blame.
    I definitely believe we should hold corporations accountable. I just don’t see how we can separate the consumer from the producer.

    bmerberg,

    @supernovae @julescelt01 @sargasso I love the question. I think a lot of times we oversimplify these decision points. I say this as someone who remembers when plastic bags were touted as saving the forests. Maybe a bad example, because that may have been manipulated by plastic companies. But still, I see your point.

    Chron, (edited ) to news

    An Amazon worker nearly collapsed while working in the scorching Texas heat wave on Tuesday.

    https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-heat-wave-amazon-18177440.php

    bmerberg,

    The future of work is on fire.

    https://heighho.substack.com/p/the-future-of-work-climate-change

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