"It's tough every year, it's about coming to an agreement that is acceptable to both sides of the industry... on the whole, given the difficult circumstances, it was the best that could be achieved," said BPIF deputy chief executive Cicely Brown.

"The increase is ahead of current and predicted inflation figures," said Amicus assistant general secretary Tony Burke. "This is against a background of a very difficult situation in the print industry."

As well as the 6.38 weekly rise for Class I staff, the proposed agreement would mean a 5.74 increase for Class II and 5.23 for Class III employees.

The deal which, according to the union, equates to around 2.49% on minimum pay rates, is also applicable to shift, overtime and machine classification payments.

The union will now ballot 25,000 members on the increases, and the BPIF will seek approval from its national council. The process is expected to take between five and six weeks.

As with previous agreements, the increases are based on "ability to pay", meaning that the proposed agreements include a cost recovery clause for employers.

"This means that companies can look to recover the full cost of the increase from improvements within their businesses," said Brown.