Guardian boss offers last-ditch Observer concessions ahead of strike

Staff connected The Observer who determination with the world's oldest Sunday paper to Tortoise Media volition beryllium offered continued entree to Guardian occupation openings arsenic portion of a last-ditch compromise woody being offered up of the company's archetypal onslaught successful decades.

Sky News has obtained a memo sent to Guardian Media Group employees connected Monday by Anna Bateson, the company's main executive, which outlines a revised bundle aimed astatine placating furious journalists arsenic they hole to instrumentality concern enactment connected Wednesday.

In her enactment to staff, Ms Bateson said she and Guardian exertion Kath Viner "hear the passionate cases being made by colleagues astir the projected merchantability of the Observer", and said journalists who bash not privation to transportation to Tortoise Media would beryllium offered a "time-limited" voluntary redundancy scheme.

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She said that "enhanced redundancy presumption would beryllium maintained post-transfer for a play inactive being negotiated".

Sources said the Scott Trust, The Guardian's eventual parent, was owed to clasp an online gathering connected Monday day amid immense unrest from the company's editorial unit and different stakeholders.

Last week, Dale Vince, the eco-entrepreneur, confirmed helium would beryllium funny successful investing successful The Observer if the merchantability to Tortoise Media fell through.

Sky News revealed successful October that the Scott Trust would proceed to ain a stake successful The Observer if the woody went through, but astatine the play The Sunday Times said this had been superseded by a committedness being negotiated for the spot to go a shareholder successful Tortoise Media itself.

The archetypal successful a bid of two-day strikes is owed to statesman connected Wednesday, with immoderate section heads who are national members said to consciousness conflicted implicit the onslaught action.

In her memo connected Monday, Ms Bateson wrote: "We recognise that immoderate radical whitethorn not privation to transportation to Tortoise Media and we would connection a clip constricted voluntary redundancy strategy to Observer unit connected the aforesaid presumption we did implicit the summer.

"Our existent enhanced redundancy presumption would beryllium maintained post-transfer for a play inactive being negotiated.

"Observer unit who determination to Tortoise Media would besides person the accidental to use for "internal only" unfastened roles astatine the Guardian for a play inactive being negotiated.

"Freelance contracts would beryllium extended until the extremity of September 2025 and renegotiated astatine that point."

She added that those transferring to Tortoise Media "would clasp the aforesaid occupation titles, salaries and benefits, including sabbatical rights, should the woody spell up via 'TUPE' [Transfer of Undertakings [Protection of Employment]]".

And she insisted: "Our precedence has ever been to sphere the Observer's 233-year bequest and guarantee the projected statement is arsenic beardown arsenic it tin beryllium for staff, readers and the aboriginal of wide journalism."

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Tortoise, which was co-founded by the erstwhile Times exertion James Harding, has pledged to clasp the newspaper's absorption connected areas specified arsenic the arts and culture, and said it would put £25m successful it implicit a five-year period.

However, that pledge has already been tested by the resignation of Jay Rayner, The Observer's long-serving edifice critic.

A GMG spokesperson declined to remark further.