"With regret... you're Fired."

I had The Meeting the other day. The one where you get the bit of paper that says you're being made redundant. By and large, The Organisation has done pretty well, followed all the procedures and done everything properly.

One of the things that had to be done was to "minimise compulsory redundancies". And they've done it. Only about 13 of us have actually opted to be pushed.

Back in June, when the closure had just been announced, there were 243 permanent staff members and 106 contractors. At the end of the day, there'll be about 12 in the closure team, about 45 TUPEd, and 13 compulsory redundancies. The contractors just had their plugs pulled and the rest took voluntary severance, or just left.

It's sheer bloody-mindedness that has led me to stand here and demand to be pushed. I know somebody, somewhere will say, "see, only 13 compulsory redundancies." Like everybody else had a choice. At least I can say, "AND I WAS ONE OF THEM." Maybe we ought to wear lilac in our hats like the Night Watch in Terry Pratchett's story.