Guardian urged to ‘press pause’ on Observer sale as more strikes planned

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The head of the UK’s union movement has weighed in on the backlash over the sale of The Observer newspaper, urging its owner to “press pause” on the controversial transaction amid staff uproar ahead of more planned strikes next. Trade Union Congress general-secretary Paul Nowak joined the condemnation from the National Union of Journalists on Friday, which led a staff strike in the lead-up to the planned sale by Guardian Media Group and the Scott Trust of the Sunday newspaper to start-up Tortoise Media. In a statement released after 5pm on Friday, members of the Guardian and Observer NUJ chapel said they were “outraged to wake up to news this morning that members of the Scott Trust had chosen to approve the deal while our action was taking place.” “The decision to move ahead with the deal, in principle, underlined their refusal to take on board the well-founded objections and strength of opposition from journalists and readers,” the chapel said in a statement. However, Anna Bateson, chief executive of Guardian Media Group, assured staff the sale would protect the paper’s future, “ensuring it can continue producing exceptional liberal journalism, online and in print, for years to come.” Mr Harding, editor and founder of Tortoise, said: “We are honoured and excited at the prospect of working together to renew The Observer, a name that represents the best of liberal, pioneering journalism.