Blue-collar worker

Blue-collar is a term for what some refer to as the working class. A blue-collar worker is differentiated from white-collar and service employees, in that the blue-collar worker earns an hourly wage (as opposed to the white-collar salary) and performs manual labor (as opposed to the service-industry worker). Blue collar work may be skilled or unskilled, and may involve factory work, building and construction trades, law enforcement, mechanical work, maintenance or technical installations. The white-collar worker, by contrast, performs non-manual labor often in an office; and the service industry worker performs non-manual labor involving customer interaction, entertainment, retail sales, and the like.

This term occasionally carries a stereotype based on historical perspective, but is rarely perceived to be a negative one. The blue-collar worker in the United States is an embodiment of the American mythos of a work ethic and the dignity of labor. Rightly or wrongly, some blue-collar jobs, such as those of janitors and unskilled laborers, may carry negative stereotypes from perceptions that they represent minimal ability. Most, however, involve levels of specialized skill that carry no stigma, and are on the contrary a source of pride.

The term derives from the dress codes of workplaces. Industrial and manual workers wear durable clothing that can be soiled or scrapped at work. A popular element of such “work clothes” has been, and still is, a light or navy blue shirt. Blue is also a popular color for coveralls.

The popularity of the color blue among persons who do manual labor is contrasted to the ubiquitous white dress shirt that, historically, has been standard attire in office environments. This obvious color-coding has been used to identify a difference in socio-economic class. This distinction is growing more blurred, however, with the increasing importance of skilled labor, and the growth of non-laboring, but low-paying, service sector jobs.

Blue-collar can also be used as an adjective to describe the environment of the blue-collar worker: e.g. a blue-collar neighborhood, job, restaurant, bar, etc., or a situation describing the use of manual effort and the strength required to do so.

Some distinctive elements of blue-collar work are the lesser requirements for formal academic education which is needed to succeed in other types of work. Blue-collar work typically is wage-labor and entails a labor model that involves a 1-minute-accurate clock-in system. Usually, the pay for such occupation is lower than that of the white-collar worker, although higher than many entry-level service occupations. Sometimes the work conditions can be strenuous or hazardous. Skilled blue-collar work often pays as well or better than careers requiring professional post-graduate degrees.

Blue collar workers exist in varying proportions throughout the industrial world, though several locations, such as the United States state of Pennsylvania, particularly the cities of Allentown and Pittsburgh, contain large numbers of blue-collar workers and both cities have sometimes been highlighted in popular culture because of their blue-collar reputations.

With the movement of many Western nations towards service based economy, the Blue-collar workforce has steadily decreased in size. At the same time skilled Blue-collar workers, mainly tradespeople working in the building industry, have seen rapidly rising wages.

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