In which it is proposed that her position *not* be disestablished

[zeborah]

15 flaming weeks after we were told our two branch libraries are to merge, today we were finally shown a staffing change proposal. We now have three weeks to make submissions on it (it was going to be two, but we're asking for another one for various good reasons but also out of spite. 15 flaming weeks!) and then they finalise it.

The proposal is that 3 positions be disestablished outright; and that two groups of people (based on job banding) go into "selection pools", which is like a game of Survivor but without the million dollar prize. Basically everyone gets ranked on various criteria and the people with the highest scores get the jobs and the other people get a severance package. This is mildly preferable to firing everyone and making them all reapply for their old jobs.

Anyway, my position isn't one that goes into a selection pool, so that's nice for me. But they're proposing to just disestablish a half-timer at my same banding, and she has every right to ask why they don't have a selection pool in our banding too, so that could still happen. OTOH I've heard a rumour that she's planning to take the bullet for the rest of us. So...

(Seriously. I know so many women who'd slit their own throat if it'd make someone else feel a bit better.)

So. Nice for me but obviously most of my colleagues still have the axe hanging above them. Insert survivor guilt here. Also we still have to move another bazillion books and convince the chemical engineering department that this merger isn't just an "empire-building" exercise. I shall Have Words with the man who allegedly uttered that phrase (I have to talk with him about some next-year stuff anyway).

Comments

[tauira.livejournal.com]

Empire building. Riiiiiiight.

Good news about your job, anyway.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Way back in 1974 - when local government in the UK had its big upheaval and our little library system (a central library, 3 branches and a mobile) suddenly became a central library, 30 branches and a mobile service) we all had to reapply for our own jobs - pittred against the staff from the dissolved county library service whose resources were being split between six much enlarged library authorities. Nightmare.

Everyone in our library ended up with a job, but some not with the jobs they'd expected. One of the assistant librarians ended up as the chief cataloguer. I kept my job as children's librarian - even got a payrise and a shiny new library - but much to my disgust they didn't appoint a chief children's librarian for the whole auuthority so effectively I was just a subject specialist and 'consultant' to the areas and branches, but had not power to tell them to get their arses into gear or do anything practical. To this day they don't have anyone responsible - overall - for children's library services in Barnsley. Sheesh!

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I hate this kind of reorganisation. I hope you can manage to get through it with sanity intact.

[poetrychook.livejournal.com]

I'd say "congratulations" if it wasn't for the survivor guilt thing. But I'm happy for you, anyway.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Ouch! That sounds bad. Is "disestablish" the actual term they are using? Last time this happened to us, our boss told us our lab was being "consolidated" and it had always seemed like a positive term up until then...

[zeborah]

Oh yeah, that's the real word. It kind of fits: books are deaccessioned, staff positions are disestablished. Either way you end up in the circular filing bin(1).

It was "selection pool" that made me snort and/or roll my eyes every time the Big Boss said it. Which is a shame, because she said it a lot and she was also looking at me a lot...

(1) Trashcan, for those who are kenning-impaired.

[chuk-g.livejournal.com]

"Disestablish" sounds like such a hideous buzzword that I checked OED to see if it was even a real word. They have cites going back to 1598.

[zeborah]

Ah, you were never ridiculously proud of knowing the longest word in English (discounting chemical names and such and okay probably not the longest after all but still called that by lots of people)? Antidisestablishmentarianism. IIRC from my mother's explanation, the "establishment" was the Catholic Church. So "disestablishment" was a buzzword for arresting the priests, giving the gold to the king, and tearing down the churches stone by stone, and "antidisestablismentarianism" was the movement to undo all of that.

<considers setting up an antidisestablishmentarianism movement at work>

[chuk-g.livejournal.com]

I actually once wrote a song using "antidisestablishmentarianism" but I didn't know you could take it apart like that.

[hairmonger.livejournal.com]

"One of the assistant librarians ended up as the chief cataloguer."

Dear merciful Cataloguing Gods!

Mary Anne in Kentucky (reference, thank you, reference)

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Luckily she was very good at it. She was qualified - but she'd only been out of Library school a year! When I left she eventually got my job - as Children's librarian - which was even more of a surprise because she'd never shown any interest in Children or their books before.

[chuk-g.livejournal.com]

http://sesquiotic.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/four-very-long-words/ Good post on "longest" words. Actually, his word-tasting notes are in general pretty great. For people who like etymology, anyway.