Planning on behalf of crew about start of strike (9)
I believe the answer is:
foresight
'planning' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'on behalf of crew about start of strike' is the wordplay.
'on behalf of' becomes 'for' (eg speaking on behalf of or for someone else).
'crew' becomes 'eight' (an eight-person rowing team).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'start of' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'strike' is 's'.
'eight' enclosing 's' is 'esight'.
'for'+'esight'='FORESIGHT'
(Other definitions for foresight that I've seen before include "Clairvoyance" , "Caution" , "Prescience" , "Ability to anticipate" , "Anticipation" .)