“We have a plan in place to minimise the impact of strike action on staff, readers and subscribers and we will continue to publish online and produce the print edition as usual,” they continued.
UK readers may notice some differences to the Guardian’s daily website on Wednesday and Thursday, as a result of the strike, as well as in its print editions, the newspaper said.
NUJ members passed a motion last month stating that selling the Observer to Tortoise would be a “betrayal” of the commitment made by the Scott Trust, the Guardian Media Group (GMG)’s owners, to the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper.
If the sale goes ahead, Observer staff have been told they can take voluntary redundancy on enhanced terms or else transfer to Tortoise on the existing terms of their contracts.
In an email to staff, Anna Bateson, the managing director of GMG, confirmed “constructive talks [around the sale] will continue” in order “to protect Observer staff if this deal progresses”.
She added that freelance contracts would be extended until the end of September 2025 and then renegotiated.