black-collar workers—
1. miners (especially coal miners) and oil workers:
- He began performing in the smoky gin mills that catered to black-collar workers who liked their booze and blues straight.
2. (sl.) people engaged in media industries (artists, graphic designers, video producers, etc.):
- Black-collar workers, for those of you that aren’t cool enough to know, are the “creative types”; media, fashion, entertainment, etc.
white-collar workers—employees whose job is clerical, as opposed to blue-collar workers engaged in manual work:
- Today blue-collar workers can earn more than some of their whitecollar counterparts.
Cf.: pink-collar workers—women who work at traditional non-manual jobs (as secretaries, cashiers, etc.):
- The book allows the voices of the pink-collar workers to demonstrate the simultaneous burdens and pleasures of their work.