Figure union leader’s in a predicament (6)
I believe the answer is:
statue
'figure' is the definition.
(I know that statue is a type of sculpture)
'union leader's in a predicament' is the wordplay.
'leader' says to take the initial letters.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'a predicament' becomes 'state' (I've seen this in another clue).
The first letter of 'union' is 'u'.
'u' placed within 'state' is 'STATUE'.
(Other definitions for statue that I've seen before include "Carved representation" , "Model figure" , "Three-dimensional work of art" , "See figure" , "Three-D human representation" .)