Poor rate negotiated for a worker (8)
I believe the answer is:
operator
'a worker' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'poor rate negotiated' is the wordplay.
'negotiated' is an anagram indicator.
'poor'+'rate'='poorrate'
'poorrate' is an anagram of 'OPERATOR'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for operator that I've seen before include "Person who directs or controls, machine say (8)." , "One using an item of equipment" , "Person running a business" , "Person at switchboard, etc" , "Switchboard worker" .)