A question involving work, morals and being laid off.

Here’s the story. I work at a metal fabrication plant. I work in CNC which is the first process. I run a laser that cuts sheets of metal into parts for anything from vehicles to shelves and everything in between. We have been slow lately because of the economy and lack of business so we have been doing “busy work”. When I arrived to work on Tuesday, I was told that I would be cleaning floors along with another person from my department. This fellow, has worked for the company for a little less than a year compared to my three and a half. He asked if he could go home and my boss called our supervisor to see if that was okay. My supervisor said let anyone go that would like to. When I found that out, I mentioned that I would rather go home so my supervisor got another call. When my request was asked, I was told that I could leave but I would be put on indefinite lay-off. I ended up getting upset enough that I left and although I don’t regret my decision, I can’t help but feel like I shouldn’t have been put into that situation. It kinda feels like, for lack of a better word, black mail. What do you think? Should I have sucked it up and just did what I was told? What would you have done in that position?