Communist and German worker are out of work (9)
I believe the answer is:
redundant
'out of work' is the definition.
(someone made redundant is out of work)
'communist and german worker' is the wordplay.
'communist' becomes 'red' (red can informally mean communist).
'and german' becomes 'und' ('and' in German).
'worker' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant).
'red'+'und'+'ant'='REDUNDANT'
'are' is the link.
(Other definitions for redundant that I've seen before include "excessive?" , "no longer needed" , "laid off" , "out of a job" , "Surplus to requirements" .)