• by Ray Schultz , November 21, 2024

Guardian employees are planning a one-day strike to protest the planned sale of the Observer to digital publisher Tortoise.

Union members have passed a motion calling the sale of the Sunday paper a “betrayal” by Guardian owner the Scott Trust of its commitment to the Observer, the Guardian reports. 

The strike by National Union of Journalists (NUJ) members, the first such action in decades, will take place on Wednesday, December 4 and Thursday, December 5, the Guardian adds.

“We believe the transfer is a betrayal of the Scott Trust’s commitment to the Observer as part of the Guardian News and Media family,” the union motion states. “The trust should protect a vital element of the UK and international liberal media and not seek to throw it overboard.”

A Guardian spokesman counters: “We recognize the strength of feeling about the proposed sale of the Observer and appreciate that NUJ members wish to make their views heard. While we respect the right to strike, we do not believe a strike is the best course of action in this case and our talks with the NUJ continue.”

News of the possible sale came in September. The Guardian Media Group told its staff told staff that Tortoise had approached it with “an offer that was significant enough to look at in more detail,” The Guardian reported.

Tortoise said then that it will invest £25 million in the Observer over the next five years, and that it will continue to publish it on Sunday.