The Observer staff joining Tortoise Media, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, will be offered continued access to Guardian job vacancies in a last-ditch compromise offered before the company’s first strike for decades.
Sky News has obtained a memo sent to Guardian Media Group employees on Monday from Anna Bateson, the company’s chief executive, which outlines a revised plan aimed at appeasing furious journalists as they prepare to take industrial action on Wednesday.
In her memo to staff, Ms Bateson said she and Guardian editor Kath Viner “hear the passionate arguments being made by her colleagues about the proposed sale of the Observer”, and said the Journalists who do not wish to transfer to Tortoise Media would be offered a “limited-term voluntary departure plan”.
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She said “the enhanced dismissal conditions would be maintained after the transfer for a period still being negotiated”.
Sources said the Scott Trust, the Guardian’s ultimate parent company, was due to hold an online meeting on Monday afternoon amid huge unrest from the company’s editorial staff and other stakeholders.
Last week, eco-entrepreneur Dale Vince confirmed he would be interested in investing in The Observer if the sale to Tortoise Media fell through.
Sky News revealed in October that the Scott Trust would continue to hold an interest in The Observer if the deal had been reached, but this weekend the Sunday Times said that deal had been replaced by a commitment being negotiated for the trust to become a shareholder in Tortoise Media itself.
The first in a series of two-day strikes is scheduled to begin Wednesday, and some unionized department heads reportedly feel conflicted by the strike.
Journalists are due to go on strike this week. Photo: The Observer
In her Monday memo, Ms Bateson wrote: “We recognize that some people may not wish to transfer to Tortoise Media and we would offer a limited-term voluntary redundancy plan to Observer staff on the same terms as we we proposed during the summer.
“Our current enhanced redundancy conditions would continue after the transfer for a period still being negotiated.
“Observer staff joining Tortoise Media would also have the opportunity to apply for open ‘internal only’ positions at the Guardian for a period still being negotiated.
“Freelance contracts would be extended until the end of September 2025 and renegotiated at that time.”
She added that those transferring to Tortoise Media “will retain the same job titles, salaries and benefits, including sabbatical rights, if the deal goes through via the ‘TUPE’ (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Undertakings) ‘Job)) “.
And she insisted: “Our priority has always been to preserve the Observer’s 233-year legacy and ensure the proposed deal is as strong as possible for staff, readers and the future of liberal journalism. »
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Tortoise, co-founded by former Times editor James Harding, has pledged to maintain the newspaper’s focus on areas such as arts and culture, and said it would invest £25m in it sterling over a period of five years.
However, that commitment has already been tested by the resignation of Jay Rayner, longtime food critic for The Observer newspaper.
A GMG spokesperson declined to comment further.