blue-collar

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Welder making boilers for a ship, Combustion Engineering Company. Chattanooga, Tennessee, June 1942.

A blue-collar worker is a member of the working class who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled, manufacturing, mining, construction, mechanical, maintenance, technical installation and many other types of physical work. Often something is physically being built or maintained.

In contrast, the white-collar worker typically performs work in an office environment and may involve sitting at a computer or desk. A third type of work is a service worker whose labor is related to customer interaction, entertainment sales or other service oriented work. Pink collar workers are typically service workers. Many occupations blend blue, white and/or service industry categorizations.

Blue-collar work is often paid hourly wage-labor, although some professionals may be paid by the project or salaried. There is a wide range of payscales for such work depending upon field of specialty and experience.

Clothing colour

Industrial and manual workers often wear durable canvas or cotton clothing that may be soiled during the course of their work. Navy and light blue colours conceal potential dirt or grease on the worker's clothing, helping him or her to appear cleaner. For the same reason, blue is a popular colour for coveralls which protect a worker's clothing. Some blue collar workers have uniforms with the name of the business and/or the individual's name embroidered or printed on it.

Historically the popularity of the colour blue among manual labourers contrasts with the popularity of white dress shirts worn by men in office environments. The blue collar/white collar colour scheme has socio-economic class connotations. However, this distinction has become blurred with the increasing importance of skilled labour, and the relative increase in low-paying, white-collar jobs.

History

The term blue collar was first used in reference to trades jobs in 1924, in an Alden, Iowa newspaper.^[1]

Education requirements

U.S. Navy sailors load a cargo container onto a container ship.

A higher level academic education is often not required for many blue-collar jobs. However, certain fields may require specialized training, licensing or certification as well as a high school diploma or GED.

Blue collar shift to developing nations

With the information revolution Western nations have moved towards a service and white collar economy. Many manufacturing jobs have been outsourced to developing nations which pay their workers lower wages. This outsourcing of jobs has pushed formerly agrarian nations to industrialized economies and concurrently decreased the number of blue-collar jobs in developed countries.

In the United States an area known as the Rust Belt comprising The Midwest, Western New York and Western Pennsylvania, has seen its once large manufacturing base shrink significantly. With the de-industrialization of these areas starting in the mid 1960s cities like Cleveland, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Buffalo, New York, Niagara Falls, New York and Saint Louis, Missouri, have experienced a steady decline of the blue-collar workforce and subsequent population decreases. Due to this economic osmosis, the rust belt has experienced high unemployment, poverty and urban blight.

Adjective

"Blue-collar" can be used as an adjective to describe the environment of the blue-collar worker such as a "blue-collar" neighborhood, restaurant, or bar.^[2]

See also

• Japanese blue collar workers

References