Water sports dismissing protest as struggles with a number of general employers (4)

I believe the answer is:

wars

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'struggles with a number of general employers' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'water sports dismissing protest' is the wordplay.
'dismissing' is a deletion indicator.
'water'+'sports'='watersports'
'watersports' with 'protest' taken away is 'WARS'.

'as' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for wars that I've seen before include "Battles" , "See 8" , "- - of the Roses" , "Armed conflicts against enemies" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times and the Irish Times (Crosaire).

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