JCB shopfloor employees have accepted a pay increase from the company in what has been described as "the longest pay deal ever agreed" at the equipment manufacturing powerhouse.

Company CEO Alan Blake says JCB is pleased to be able to offer pay rises to its workforce after a sustained period of uncertainty in the market, and is happy that employees have voted in favour of the pay proposal.

Employees voted to accept a 3% pay increase effective on 1 July, which covers the next three-and-a-half years. They also agreed to subsequent pay reviews on 1 January 2011, 2012 and 2013, linked to the previous November's inflation rate.

The pay deal coincided with JCB re-introducing overtime for shopfloor employees and starting a recruitment drive for up to 200 positions as it sees improvements in the world markets.

"There has been slight improvement in some markets, which has led to some increased demand for JCB's products and while we can't say at the moment if the situation will be sustained, we are pleased to be offering overtime and recruiting again," Blake says.

Rising above the global financial crisis, JCB recorded pre-tax profits of GBP39 million (USD64 million) on the back of a GBP2 billion (USD3.3 billion) turnover for fiscal 2008. It sold 57,000 machines that year compared to 72,000 the previous year (Forkliftaction.com News #435).