Resistance over chap cutting wages as penny-pinching (9)
I believe the answer is:
parsimony
'penny-pinching' is the definition.
('parsimony' can be a synonym of 'penny-pinching')
'resistance over chap cutting wages' is the wordplay.
'resistance' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'over' says to put letters next to each other.
'chap' becomes 'simon' (**).
'cutting' indicates putting letters inside (some letters cut their way into a word).
'wages' becomes 'pay' (I've seen this before).
'r'+'simon'='rsimon'
'rsimon' going within 'pay' is 'PARSIMONY'.
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for parsimony that I've seen before include "Tight-fistedness" , "avoiding excess" , "Closeness" , "Meanness" , "economic policy" .)