Are blue-collar workers looked down upon in this country?

[dulaney]

Just curious, since I have never given this a thought until yesterday. I posted yesterday about having a small chat with a stranger about the traffic being bad in the city since Obama was in town. He started right in on how he didn't know why anyone would go see him. I told him that I thought he might pack the place. He then rolled his eyes and said "yes, it will be all those blue collar workers". I then told him that my dh was a blue-collar worker.

So, is this the nation's view of blue-collar workers and if so, why?

I grew up with a dad that was a steelworker, so that is blue-collar and my dh is a boilermaker, which is blue-collar.

Of course, after thinking about this, I am not really sure if my dh is still actually considered blue-collar. I think he is! He works in a blue-collar field, and works mainly on site (not in an office) but he has one of the highest positions that you can have in this field, so he is considered management (I guess), but he still wears jeans, work boots and denim shirts to work and gets paid hourly (thankfully!).

I know this isn't really political, per se, but since it came up as a negative in a political conversation, I thought I would post it here.

Thanks!

Kristin

[jvirginia]

That comment is interesting because a lot of people think Obama appeals much more to the "elite" - educated, white collar, etc. than to blue collar voters, who find his lofty rhetoric, etc. unimpressive. That is the group that Obama made the "bitter" comment about. So, I'm surprised someone would say that.

I live in an interesting town - it used to be a very modest farming community with a lot of blue collar workers; in the last generation there has been a lot of new development and it this has mixed with affluent professionals - usually a DH who works in finance, a SAHM, and a minimansion. To be honest, DH and I often tend to "click" better with some of the blue collar people.

[maryellen]

My DH is a blue collar worker, and he *loves* Obama. He even put a sticker on his pickup truck, and that NEVER happens. I have also seen a ton of signs posted in work trucks around here: "Electricians for Obama" "Elevator mechanics for Obama" etc. So I don't know about anywhere else, but he seems to be appealing to everyone around here.

As for blue collar workers being looked down on, I don't think so. We definitely have a mix of friends in our circle and nobody really seems to care what anyone does.

[Jeannie]

I am a white collar worker married to a blue collar worker. It creates issues. Dh used to hate going to company functions. He figured all those lawyers would look down on him. The funny thing was, as soon as my coworkers found out he did construction, they all flocked to him to talk about home improvements. LOL

But it is considered disadvantageous for me career wise to be married to a blue collar worker. If he worked on Wall Street, or was another lawyer, or worked in government, I could use connections through him to further my business. Many of my fellow attorneys, both men and women, make use of their spouse's connections this way. I don't have it. I think I do just fine on my own. But I know at least one of my bosses considers this a liability.

[Doe]

Yes, I think so... My DH is a blue collar, union man. I think there is definite bias. Oh, and DH is a PROUD Democrat, liberal and patriot. And gets as furious as JV (insert wink) at the thought that being a liberal makes him less patriotic.

On the flip side, while I have more education than my DH, he has a degree and I don't. I left school before getting mine. LOL.

[augie]

Union Votes

Just curious, since I have never given this a thought until yesterday. I posted yesterday about having a small chat with a stranger about the traffic being bad in the city since Obama was in town. He started right in on how he didn't know why anyone would go see him. I told him that I thought he might pack the place. He then rolled his eyes and said "yes, it will be all those blue collar workers". I then told him that my dh was a blue-collar worker.

So, is this the nation's view of blue-collar workers and if so, why?

I grew up with a dad that was a steelworker, so that is blue-collar and my dh is a boilermaker, which is blue-collar.

Of course, after thinking about this, I am not really sure if my dh is still actually considered blue-collar. I think he is! He works in a blue-collar field, and works mainly on site (not in an office) but he has one of the highest positions that you can have in this field, so he is considered management (I guess), but he still wears jeans, work boots and denim shirts to work and gets paid hourly (thankfully!).

I know this isn't really political, per se, but since it came up as a negative in a political conversation, I thought I would post it here.

Thanks!

Kristin

Jack Welch, former chairman of GE, endorsed John McCain today. One of the reasons he stated was due to Obama's support of a card check bill for unions. Has your DH said anything about this? What does it mean?

[dulaney]

I didn't post this to

Jack Welch, former chairman of GE, endorsed John McCain today. One of the reasons he stated was due to Obama's support of a card check bill for unions. Has your DH said anything about this? What does it mean?

get into a debate about unions. Not all blue-collar workers are in unions. I asked if blue-collar workers are looked down upon in today's world.

The card check bill (I believe) allows employees (if they want to) to state that they want to be unionized. If a company's employees can get a majority of people to sign a card saying they want to be unionized, then they would be.

My dh has not mentioned this. In fact, this is the first year that my dh will not be able to vote at all. He works out of town about 8 months a year, but in the past we have always had notice that he would be out of town and were able to get an absentee ballot. He just got sent out-of-state with almost no notice for the next 3-4 weeks and doesn't have time to get one this year.

Kristin

[CHLetts]

[Kim of VA]

I hope not.

Many of my family (aunts/uncles/cousins) are blue collar. I don't think people look down on them.

I have noticed, though, that they are trying to get all of their kids through college and into white collar jobs.

[augie]

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[pepperlc]

I would hope not because blue collar workers are as important (if not more) to this nation as white collar workers. And I say this as a 2 person white collar family.

I'm sorry someone said such a stupid thing to you.
karen

[dulaney]

Well, I would

Many of my family (aunts/uncles/cousins) are blue collar. I don't think people look down on them.

I have noticed, though, that they are trying to get all of their kids through college and into white collar jobs.

think with each generation, we have more and more people attending college, so I would guess that the blue-collar jobs go down and white-collar goes up as more people have a college degree.

Kristin

[dulaney]

OK, I give up

But are all union members considered blue collar? I'm not sure. I wasn't getting into pro/con unions. I thought I remembered you mentioning your DH was in a union, so I just wondered what the "word on the street" was regarding this. Jack Welch evidently feels very strongly about it. It has to do with secret ballots evidently.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=910528847&play=1

ETA: Jack Welch also says that he doesn't see how any businessman could come out for Obama - mostly related to his increases in capital gains taxes versus McCain's 50% cut.

I posted a question about the world's assessment of blue-collar workers. I never asked what Obama (or McCain's for that matter) stance on unions was- whether they were for it/against, what they're plans are for them. In fact, I didn't even ask a question about unions. I asked about blue-collar workers. I just happened to mention that both my dad and dh were/are union men.

If someone posted "sorry Kristin, but yes, most of the world thinks blue-collar workers are stupid and uneducated", it wouldn't have bothered me, because that is in fact, what I asked about.

But, you want to take the opportunity to post about how someone thinks Obama's plan for unions is bad and then make a statement about how this guy doesn't see how any businessman could vote for Obama. Now, how does something about a businessman voting even apply to what I asked?

Kristin



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[augie]

Thank you for this informative post. I agree, I don't see how it could be legal. What would be the point of having an election, really? I confess I know little to nothing about unions, so I appreciate your insights.

[Scout]

I don't think blue collar workers get enough recognition for the vital role that they play in our society. I have a 17yo ds who is a senior in high school. He is very talented with woodworking; he has made the most incredible tables, shelfs, etc. in Wood Tech. He wants to attend a community college for their building trades program. He's hoping to be a builder, his friend wants to be an electrician and they have this dream to someday own a construction business. They were both discouraged from doing this at their senior planning meetings. Their school counselors attempted to steer them to a four year state school for more white collar professions. I couldn't believe that they would do this. My ds' plan is to transfer from the community college to a local college for the business aspect of owning a business. I think we have devalued the importance of blue collar professions.