6 May 2025
RMT Press Office:
RMT launches film to promote the Apprentice charter to address the crisis in transport apprenticeships.
RMT’s Apprentice Charter outlines a comprehensive plan to address challenges faced by apprentices, improve the quality of apprenticeships, and ensure the future sustainability of the transport sector.
It calls on politicians and employers to take decisive action to support and invest in apprentices, particularly in rail which faces a looming retirement crisis.
The RMT’s Apprentice Charter sets out a series of urgent demands to address the crisis. The charter calls for:
• Better Pay and Terms and Conditions: The scandal of low pay for apprentices, particularly in the private sector, must end. The RMT is demanding standardised pay above the national living wage and national collective bargaining for private engineering companies.
• An End to Fixed-Term Contracts: Many apprenticeships are offered on fixed-term contracts, leaving apprentices with no job security. The RMT is calling for a job guarantee for all apprentices who successfully complete their qualifications, as well as permanent contracts and full workers’ rights from day one.
• Insourcing of Apprentice Training and Education: The fragmentation of the rail industry has led to the outsourcing of training, often to the lowest bidder, resulting in substandard facilities and teaching. The RMT is demanding a return to dedicated in-house training facilities that provide high-quality education for apprentices.
• More Skilled Apprenticeships: The NSAR estimates that the rail industry needs at least 5,000 new apprentices each year to address the skills gap and avoid a retirement cliff edge. The RMT is calling on the Department for Transport to develop an ambitious, fully funded apprenticeship strategy with specific growth targets to address skills shortages.
• A New Apprentice Training Scheme Under Great British Railways (GBR): The government must use the opportunity of establishing Great British Railways to create a centralised, fully funded apprentice training scheme. This scheme should provide a clear pathway for uniformed, overalled, and back-office apprenticeships, ensuring a consistent and high standard of training across the industry.
This important charter is part of a wider campaign and programme of work being organised by the young members’ section of the union with subject matter experts and officers of the union.
Unity House
Tel: 020 7387 4771
Email: