Crossword Genius

Unionist bound to worry state sealing road (4,7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

shop steward

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'unionist' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'bound to worry state sealing road' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'bound' could be 'hop' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'hop' is located in the answer.
'worry' could be 'stew' (I've seen this before) and 'stew' is located in the answer.
'road' could be 'rd' (abbreviation) and 'rd' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'sa' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for shop steward that I've seen before include "Trade union representative" , "Union official" , "One who's organizing hands" , "Workers' representative" , "Unionist" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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