Engineers have always to get respect (6)
I believe the answer is:
revere
'respect' is the definition.
(I know that revere is a type of respect)
'engineers have always' is the wordplay.
'engineers' becomes 're' (abbreviation for Royal Engineers).
'have' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'always' becomes 'ever' (synonyms).
're' placed around 'ever' is 'REVERE'.
'to get' is the link.
(Other definitions for revere that I've seen before include "Woven fabric" , "Pay homage to" , "Paul of the famous midnight ride" , "Hold in very high regard" , "Paul -, US revolutionary patriot" .)