blue-collar
Factory worker type
Blue-collar describes work that involves manual labor, typically in manufacturing, construction, maintenance, or trades.
The term comes from the durable work shirts historically worn in such jobs, contrasting with the white dress shirts of office workers.
Blue-collar carries connotations of working-class identity and honest physical labor: a blue-collar neighborhood, blue-collar jobs are disappearing.
Wiring installation specialist
- plumberWater system tradesperson
- welderOne who fuses metals
- carpenterTimber construction tradesperson
- mechanicVehicle maintenance professional
machinist · mason · roofer · glazier · painter · pipefitter · ironworker · boilermaker
Manual laborers as group
- proletariatLaborers lacking capital ownership
- middle-classIntermediate socioeconomic group
- breadwinnerPrimary household earner
- commonerNon-noble person
everyman · salt-of-the-earth · hardworking · rust-belt · flyover
Written instructions for use
- physicalOf body or matter
- overtimeWork beyond scheduled hours
- punch-inRegister work arrival
- hourlyOnce each sixty minutes
wage · paycheck · sweat · toil · grind · hands-on · heavy-lifting · backbreaking
Joining into one
- strikeForceful impact or stoppage
- AFL-CIOCombined federation of unions
- TeamstersTransportation workers' labor organization
- grievanceFormal claim of unfairness
seniority · dues · walkout · brotherhood · organizing · contract · scab · lockout
Industrial product creation
- automotiveRelating to motor vehicles
- miningExtracting earth's resources
- constructionProcess of building something
- steelCarbon-hardened iron alloy
meatpacking · logging · trucking · railroad · sanitation · utilities · textile · shipbuilding
electrician
Wiring installation specialist
mechanic · machinist · mason · roofer · glazier · painter · pipefitter · ironworker · boilermaker · millwright
working-class
Manual laborers as group
- proletariatLaborers lacking capital ownership
- middle-classIntermediate socioeconomic group
- breadwinnerPrimary household earner
commoner · everyman · salt-of-the-earth · hardworking · rust-belt · flyover
manual
Written instructions for use
hourly · wage · paycheck · sweat · toil · grind · hands-on · heavy-lifting · backbreaking · calluses
union
Joining into one
- strikeForceful impact or stoppage
- AFL-CIOCombined federation of unions
- TeamstersTransportation workers' labor organization
grievance · seniority · dues · walkout · brotherhood · organizing · contract · scab · lockout · arbitration
manufacturing
Industrial product creation
- automotiveRelating to motor vehicles
- miningExtracting earth's resources
- constructionProcess of building something
steel · meatpacking · logging · trucking · railroad · sanitation · utilities · textile · shipbuilding · aerospace
factory
Industrial production facility
foundry · shipyard · refinery · workbench · toolroom · forge · garage
- blue-collarlaborer, factory worker, construction worker, manual labor, hard hat
- labor fictionfactory workers, labor strikes, labor movement, working class, labor
- working-classworking-class, diner, laundromat, corner store, dive bar
- workersworkers, employee, employees, laborer, laborers
- laborlabor, labor union, work, labor force, laborers
- work termsboss, job, manager, career, company
blue-collarwhite-collar
Office work designation
professional · clerical · managerial · executive · corporate
blue-collarelite
Superior select group
aristocratic · upper-class · privileged · bourgeois · white-shoe