working classes
Blue-collar population segment
The working classes are people who earn wages through manual or industrial labor rather than salaries or professional fees.
The term carries connotations of economic struggle and limited social mobility: a politician who claims to represent the working classes.
Working class (without the article) functions as an adjective: working-class neighborhoods, working-class values.
The plural form emphasizes diversity within this social stratum rather than treating it as monolithic.
Manual labor workforce
- tradespeopleSkilled manual workers
- craftsmenSkilled manual trade workers
- mechanicsScience of motion
- weldersThose who fuse metals
electricians · plumbers · carpenters · machinists · technicians · operators · foremen · janitors
Laborers lacking capital ownership
- low-incomeEarning below average wages
- povertySevere lack of resources
- subsistenceMinimal means of living
- underprivilegedLacking usual social advantages
precarious · inequality · marginalized · struggle · survival · hand-to-mouth · disenfranchised · exploitation
Industrial production facility
- manufacturingIndustrial product creation
- millGrain-crushing facility
- foundryMetal casting facility
- forgeFurnace for shaping metal
plant · workshop · production · textiles · steel · coal · mining · machinery
Payment for work
- paycheckCompensation for labor
- overtimeWork beyond scheduled hours
- shiftsMoves or work periods
- hourlyOnce each sixty minutes
toil · drudgery · sweatshop · timecard · employment · occupation · job · backbreaking
Forceful impact or stoppage
- picketingOrganized protest outside workplace
- organizingSystematically putting in order
- solidarityUnity among allies
- grievanceFormal claim of unfairness
arbitration · representation · scab · walkout · brotherhood · sisterhood · rank-and-file · local
Residential area nearby
- tenementMulti-unit urban dwelling
- solidarityUnity among allies
- cooperativeJointly operated enterprise
- grassrootsCommon people as political base
kinship · enclave · township · borough · parish · terrace · pub · stoop
blue-collar
Manual labor workforce
- tradespeopleSkilled manual workers
- craftsmenSkilled manual trade workers
- mechanicsScience of motion
welders · electricians · plumbers · carpenters · machinists · technicians · operators · foremen · janitors · fabricators
proletariat
Laborers lacking capital ownership
- low-incomeEarning below average wages
- povertySevere lack of resources
- subsistenceMinimal means of living
underprivileged · precarious · inequality · marginalized · struggle · survival · hand-to-mouth · disenfranchised · exploitation · underclass
factory
Industrial production facility
- manufacturingIndustrial product creation
- millGrain-crushing facility
- foundryMetal casting facility
forge · plant · workshop · production · textiles · steel · coal · mining · machinery · conveyor
wages
Payment for work
hourly · toil · drudgery · sweatshop · timecard · employment · occupation · job · backbreaking · grind
strike
Forceful impact or stoppage
- picketingOrganized protest outside workplace
- organizingSystematically putting in order
- solidarityUnity among allies
grievance · arbitration · representation · scab · walkout · brotherhood · sisterhood · rank-and-file · local · AFL-CIO
neighborhood
Residential area nearby
- tenementMulti-unit urban dwelling
- solidarityUnity among allies
- cooperativeJointly operated enterprise
grassroots · kinship · enclave · township · borough · parish · terrace · pub · stoop · laundromat
working classesupper class
Wealthiest societal stratum
ruling class · aristocracy · upper classes · bourgeoisie · elite
working classesbourgeoisie
Capitalist ownership class
employers · industrialists · proprietors · investors · business owners
working classesupper classes
Society's most privileged strata
middle classes · intelligentsia · gentry · high society · jet set
work, class, worker, working, works, workers, worked, workforce, workman