Worker gets peasant etc beaten up — not much of a fight (8,2,3,5)

I believe the answer is:

handbags at ten paces

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

'worker gets peasant etc beaten up not much of a fight' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'worker gets peasant etc beaten up' is the wordplay.
'worker' becomes 'handbags' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'gets' means one lot of letters goes inside another (gets can mean captures or absorbs).
'beaten up' is an anagram indicator.
'peasant'+'etc'='peasantetc'
'peasantetc' is an anagram of 'sattenpace'.
'handbags' placed around 'sattenpace' is 'HANDBAGS AT TEN PACES'.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app