Crossword Genius

Give the workers a shock - make a friendly gesture (5,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

shake hands

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'a shock make a friendly gesture' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'give the workers' is the wordplay.
'give' becomes 'shake' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'the workers' becomes 'hands' (hand is a kind of worker).
'shake'+'hands'='SHAKE HANDS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for shake hands that I've seen before include "Greet" , "Finalise agreement" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish News.
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