The ballot, amongst GPMU members who work for companies affiliated to the Scottish Print Employers Federation, returned a result of 887 in favour of the pay rise, with 601 against.

GPMU deputy general secretary Tony Burke said: "We recognize that the printing industry in Scotland has very real problems. That is why the deal this year is for cash only."

Burke said that the GPMU and SPEF are now planning to lobby the Scottish executive "to see what help, if any, they can give to the industry".

The two organisations will particularly question the executive over arrangements for its own 8m print services budget, which is currently out to tender.

SPEF director Jim Raeburn said: "That contract has been held under a print management contract. I would like to see it stated within the contract that consistent with the requirement to achieve best value, there should be an obligation on the print management contractor to place business with Scottish printing companies."

He said that particular problems facing the Scottish printing industry were "weak demand allied with over capacity, creating an over-competitive situation resulting in unhealthily low profit margins.

He added: "We are seeing a trend whereby the number of companies in the industry and the number of people employed in the industry are in decline.

"The productive capacity of today's technology is increasing at a faster rate than any increase in the demand for print. It will be the survival of the fittest, and those that survive and have invested both in technology and in people will be in a stronger position as we emerge from these difficult times."

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said that under EU procurement rules, the contract has to go out to as wide a tender as possible and it was not possible to stipulate that the contract should be awarded to a Scottish company.

Story by Josh Brooks