The new hires at the G.M. plant in Lordstown Oh. are only starting at $15.hr.They now have the line separated by a fence new hires on one side old-timers on the other , the old timers are making between $28. to $38. hr , last I heard . . so really by old standards only the old guys our comfortably still middle class.
And they have more applicants than job openings, and folks willing to put in lots of overtime because the car factories are the best jobs in the area. If the factory dies, the town dies. They are probably still catered to with discount apartments and other such things.
Which is delusional; blue collar is the archetypal working class.
Strange, where I live they built an entire city around the car factory (VW).
That's possible. But historically, when you talk about the middle class, the first thing that should come to your mind is executives, surgeons and lawyers, not car assembly line workers.