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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september/october 2026 :: RMTnews
7
RMT general secretary Eddie
Dempsey, national secretary
Darren Procter, Stena
convenor Michael Hobson
visit shipboard
representative James
Haddock and several
members of the crew
employed onboard the
Stena Embla, which operates
between Birkenhead and
Belfast.
R
MT has secured another
pay win for seafarers at
Stena Line which represent
uplifts of up to nearly 25 per
cent in addition to the annual
pay increase for 2026.
The uplift came following
the union’s engagement with
the company regarding the
company’s crewing strategy
which triggered
comprehensive internal
discussions within Stena Line.
RMT made fact-based
presentations regarding
maritime skills and future
requirements of seafarers
through elected
representatives which
encouraged further scrutiny of
the company’s plans within the
seafaring labour market.
RMT general secretary
Eddie Dempsey applauded
RMT maritime officials for
engaging with Stena regarding
retention of skills in the short
term and its longer-term vision
for UK ratings, job security,
and opportunities for career
development.
“In contrast to rogue
employers like P&O Ferries,
Stena Line has publicly
supported good quality
employment of UK seafarers,
whilst recognising that in order
to attract the best people and
retain the experience and
loyalty of its people it has to
compete with the pay scales
of other employers which had
fallen in decline,” he said.
The Stena Line wage
increases across grades
working within the Deck and
Technical department include
uplifts for the following
grades:
Bosun; 24 per cent
Assistant Bosun; 20 per cent
AB; 17 per cent
Hotel Repairman; 20 per cent
Engine watch ratings;
between 8 and 17 per cent.
R
MT has raised the alarm at
government consultations
to remove several
apprenticeship schemes for
Ratings in the maritime
industry.
The government’s new skills
body, Skills England has
announced that it was
‘retiring’ apprenticeship
standards including the Deck
Rating Apprenticeship, the
only scheme that employers
have used to increase UK
Ratings in the shipping
industry.
The scheme was designed
by the union in 2015
collaboration with government
and employers, including
Stena Line and the Royal Fleet
Auxiliary where there are
existing Ratings training
programmes and other
maritime apprenticeship
standards.
The union estimates that
over 600 UK resident Deck
Ratings have been trained
since the apprenticeship was
introduced with the full
support of employers.
RMT general secretary
Eddie Dempsey said that
plans to remove this training
would be an appallingly short-
sighted decision.
“It would reward the likes
of P&O Ferries, Irish Ferries
and operators in the offshore
wind supply chain who
undercut progressive
employers who employ and
train locally.
“Employers support these
apprentice schemes, and we
should be improving
standards and increasing the
uptake not considering
removing them altogether.
“We need to overhaul
maritime apprentice strategies
to benefit coastal communities
that are crying out for
employment opportunities
which should be the bedrock
of our island economy and
national security,” he said.
RMT has written to the
Skills Minister Jacqui Smith,
Maritime Minister Keir Mather
MP and the Defence Minister
Calvin Bailey MP calling for
the plans to be reversed.
The union is also working
with the Maritime and
Coastguard Agency, maritime
colleges and employers for an
industry wide response
expressing profound
opposition and for swift action
to be taken to deliver
apprenticeship standards for
deck, engine, catering and
workboat Ratings.
RMT WARNS MARITIME
APPRENTICESHIPS UNDER THREAT
PAY WIN AT
STENA
STENA EMBLA VISIT