Journalists working at various Reach titles have withdrawn plans to strike on Friday, after talks resumed over a pay dispute.
The media group, which includes the Daily Record and Sunday Mail in Scotland, had been due for walkouts today and next week, but the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) stated yesterday evening that this had been postponed.
The union said there had been a breakthrough in "bringing the company back to the negotiating table", although planned strike action on 31 August is still due to go ahead, pending the outcome of negotiations.
They will be overseen by Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.
The company has offered a pay rise of 3%, with a minimum of £750, which the union has described as "unacceptable".
NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet welcomed the invitation to talks and "both sides will enter into the process of negotiations in good faith and with a sense of urgency".
Julia Warren, group HR director at Reach, stated that the company was pleased the NUJ had accepted its offer of further talks, which they hoped would be held "at the earliest opportunity".
She added: "This is a positive step and will allow us the time to spend with the NUJ in order to hopefully reach agreement."
It follows a similar move by NUJ members at National World Publications - which include The Scotsman and Edinburgh Evening News - who had also planned strikes in a dispute over compulsory redundancies, but called them off last week.
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