Contrary attitude about relations putting work first (8)
I believe the answer is:
opposite
'contrary' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'attitude about relations putting work first' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'work' could be 'op' (abbreviation for opus) and 'op' is found in the answer.
'first' could be 'i' (I in Roman numerals eg Elizabeth I) and 'i' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for opposite that I've seen before include "Totally different; facing" , "Facing on the other side" , "Rival" , "antipodean" , "Diametrically contrary" .)