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gewerbliche Mitarbeiter

English translation: blue-collar employees

10:52 May 17, 2003
German to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Human Resources
German term or phrase: gewerbliche Mitarbeiter
Is blue-collar workers till politically correct? I looked up KudoZ - 1 entry but I'm not happy. Nothing suitable found in Schäfer, Dietl-Lorenz and some others. The sentence reads:

Die Auslastung der gewerblichen Mitarbeiter ist bis Mitte Juni gegeben.

All comments and suggestions welcome.
Edith Kelly
Switzerland
Local time: 15:34
English translation:blue-collar employees
Explanation:
Ich weiß nicht, ob's p.c. ist, aber in unserem Unternehmen wird's häufig verwendet (auch in Kombination mit white-collar e.).
Selected response from:

Steffen Walter
Germany
Local time: 15:34
Grading comment
Danke Steffen, aber ich bin immer noch nicht überzeugt. Danke für die anderen Vorschläge, die zwar ok waren, wenn es nur um Mitarbeiter im *shop* gegangen wäre, aber in meinem Kontext handelte es sich um gewerbliche Mitarbeiter im Außendienst, also Monteure. Izy's industrial worker fand ich auch gut, passt aber nicht. Vielleicht wäre Nancy's Antwort im KudoZ Glossar garnicht so schlecht, sie schlug damals *hourly paid staff* vor, was im britischen Kontext absolut verständlich ist, und Nancy ist aus US. Ich habe demnach in meinem speziellen Zusammenhang den damaligen Vorschlag verwendet. Uff, eine lange Erklärung an einem regnerischen Sonntag.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6blue-collar employees
Steffen Walter
5or "blue-collar colleagues"
Сергей Лузан
4 +1factory-floor employees
gangels (X)
4shopfloor workers
Chris Hopley
3 +1industrial employee
izy
4industrial workers
fsd-translation


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
blue-collar employees


Explanation:
Ich weiß nicht, ob's p.c. ist, aber in unserem Unternehmen wird's häufig verwendet (auch in Kombination mit white-collar e.).

Steffen Walter
Germany
Local time: 15:34
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 259
Grading comment
Danke Steffen, aber ich bin immer noch nicht überzeugt. Danke für die anderen Vorschläge, die zwar ok waren, wenn es nur um Mitarbeiter im *shop* gegangen wäre, aber in meinem Kontext handelte es sich um gewerbliche Mitarbeiter im Außendienst, also Monteure. Izy's industrial worker fand ich auch gut, passt aber nicht. Vielleicht wäre Nancy's Antwort im KudoZ Glossar garnicht so schlecht, sie schlug damals *hourly paid staff* vor, was im britischen Kontext absolut verständlich ist, und Nancy ist aus US. Ich habe demnach in meinem speziellen Zusammenhang den damaligen Vorschlag verwendet. Uff, eine lange Erklärung an einem regnerischen Sonntag.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  izy
11 mins
agree  writeaway: I also have never heard anything to indicate there is anything politically incorrect with the term. is still used a lot, along with white-collar, as you say.
14 mins
agree  Sven Petersson
17 mins
agree  Rowan Morrell
52 mins
agree  Ron Stelter: It sounds a lot better, Edith, than "unskilled" or what have you. We still say it here in the U.S.
5 hrs
agree  Ino66 (X)
6 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
or "blue-collar colleagues"


Explanation:
halt waere eine Loesung hier. Viel Spass, Edith Kelly!
I hope it's quite politically correct. I used to speak with a porter in Paris last summer, and he mentioned "my black colleague". If one can be black, why can't be one "blue-collar"? Hope it helps & best regards.

Сергей Лузан
Russian Federation
Local time: 16:34
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in category: 14
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
factory-floor employees


Explanation:
is a fitting substitute for 'blue collar...' that seems to catch on in the media



or: industrial workers

gangels (X)
Local time: 07:34
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 67

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Melissa Field: for the US, something like this would be an alternative to blue-collar - also, floor associates, hourly associates.
6 hrs
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
shopfloor workers


Explanation:
Another alternative.

E.g.:
-> "The other change today is that jobs are intrinsically insecure. You could argue that that has always been the case for shopfloor workers. However, if you look back from the end of the industrial revolution until, say, the end of the 1970s, you will see that, although shopfloor workers came in and out of the labour market, they tended to go back to work for their employers. They may have been laid off from the automobile plants, the mines, whatever, but they would be re-employed when they were needed."
From: Emerald Now (see below)


    Reference: http://mustafa.emeraldinsight.com/vl=11232828/cl=37/nw=1/rps...
Chris Hopley
Netherlands
Local time: 15:34
Native speaker of: English
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
industrial employee


Explanation:
just another idea

izy
Local time: 14:34
Native speaker of: German

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ellen Zittinger
4 hrs
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1213 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
industrial workers


Explanation:
Jeder weiß gleich, was gemeint ist.

Example sentence(s):
  • Weiterbildungsaktivitäten für gewerbliche Arbeitskräfte. ... and implement innovations support further training activities for industrial workers. ...

    Reference: http://www.iab.de/asp/internet/dbdokShowOhne.asp?pkyDoku=i99...
fsd-translation
Local time: 15:34
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
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