In the United States and (at least some) other English-speaking countries, a blue-collar worker is a working class man who does manual labor. Blue-collar jobs may involve skilled or unskilled manufacturers, mining, sanitation, custodial work, oil field work, construction, mechanics, maintenance, warehousing, fire-fighting, technical installations and many other types of physical work. Often something is physically being built or maintained.
In contrast, white-collar workers usually do work in an office environment and may involve sitting on a computer or desk. The third type of work is a service worker (pink collar) whose workforce is related to customer interaction, entertainment, sales or other service-oriented work. Many jobs combine blue, white or pink industry categories.
Blue collar jobs are often paid on hourly wages, although some professionals may be paid by the project or paid. There is a wide variety of payscal for such jobs depending on the area of ​​expertise and experience.
Video Blue-collar worker
The term
The term "blue-collar was first used in reference to employment trade in 1924, in an Alden, Iowa newspaper. The phrase comes from the image of manual workers wearing blue denim shirts or chambray as part of their uniforms. Industrial and manual workers often wear durable canvas or cotton clothing that may be dirty during their work. The navy and the light blue color hide the potential of dirt or grease on the worker's clothes, helping it to look cleaner. For the same reason, blue is a popular color for bathing suits that protect workers' clothing. Some blue-collar workers have uniforms with business names and/or individual names embroidered or printed on them.
Historically the popularity of blue color among manual workers contrasts with the popularity of white shirts worn by people in office environments. The blue/white collar color scheme has a socio-economic class connotation. However, this distinction has become blurred with the increasing importance of skilled labor, and a relative increase in white-collar jobs with low salaries.
Maps Blue-collar worker
Education requirements
Since many blue-collar jobs consist mostly of manual labor, the educational requirements for workers are usually lower than for white-collar workers. Often, only high school diplomas are required, and many skills required for blue-collar jobs will be studied by employees while working. In higher level work, vocational or internship training may be required, and for workers such as electricians and plumbers, state certification is also required.
Blue-collar shift to developing country
With the information revolution, Western countries have moved towards white-collar service and economy. Many manufacturing jobs have been released to developing countries paying their workers at lower wages. This offshoring has pushed past agrarian countries into industrialized economies and simultaneously reduces the number of blue-collar jobs in developed countries.
In the United States, blue collar and service work generally refers to work in precision production, craftsmanship and repair work; machine operators and inspectors; transportation and moving jobs; handlers, equipment cleaners, maids, and laborers.
In the United States an area known as the Northeast and Midwest Rust Belt, including Western New York and Western Pennsylvania, has seen its massive manufacturing base shrink significantly. By deindustrialization these areas began in the mid-1960s such as Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Buffalo, New York; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Erie, Pennsylvania; Youngstown, Ohio; Toledo, Ohio, Rochester, New York, and Saint Louis, Missouri, have experienced a steady decline in blue-collar labor and the subsequent population declines. Because of this economic osmosis, the rust belt has experienced high unemployment, poverty, and urban diseases.
Automation and future
Due to many blue-collar jobs involving relatively unskilled manual workers and workers, automation posed a threat of unemployment to blue-collar workers. One study from the MIT Technology Review estimates that 83% of jobs earning less than $ 20 per hour are threatened by automation. Some examples of technologies that threaten workers are self-driving cars and automated cleaning devices, which can put blue-collar workers such as truck drivers or janitors off the line.
Others argue that technological progress will not lead to unemployment of blue-collar jobs, but rather a shift in the kind of work that blue-collar workers do today. Some predict computer coding as a future blue collar job. Proponents of this idea's view encode as skills that can be learned through vocational training, and show that more coding will be needed in a technologically advanced world. Others see the future of the blue collar work as humans and computers work together to improve efficiency. Such work will consist of tagging and labeling of data.
Electoral politics
Blue-collar workers play a major role in electoral politics. In the 2016 presidential election, many have linked Donald Trump's victory in the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan with blue-collar workers, who love Trump over Hillary Clinton's opponents. Among the white working class, Trump won 64% of the vote, compared with only 32% for Clinton. This is the biggest margin of victory among this group of voters for every presidential candidate since 1980.
Many attribute the success of Trump among these voter blocs with their opposition to international trade agreements and environmental regulations, two of the biggest threats to blue-collar jobs. Opponents of this view believe Trump's success with this block is more to do with anti-immigrant and nationalist platforms that support deportation and hinder investment in higher education.
Adjective
"Blue-collar" can be used as an adjective to describe blue collar workers environment such as neighborhood, restaurant, or "blue collar" bar.
See also
- Bullying the blue collar
- The blue collar crime
- Japanese blue collar workers
- The Moonlight Clan
- Work class culture
- The appointment of workers by color collar
- Green-collar workers
- Gray-collar workers
- Red-collar workers
- White-collar workers
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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