Your distinction is hollow because the author is making real points about the politics of the two groups, which are distinct. You gloss over them when you say that "everyone works."
Yes, everyone works, but they work differently, in different ways, for different motives, which is what drives the different politics that the parties are vying for.
The "middle class" are salaried workers, and the "working class" are the wage earners.
I already indicated above that salaried workers more personally identify with their employing companies, which the author confirmed.
Wage earners get paid by the hour, and often don't get paid when they take vacations. Consequently, they take less vacation. Salaried workers get several weeks of vacation each year as a part of their benefits packages.
Wage earners are often trade workers. They can find work almost anywhere. Salaried worker are often office workers who specialize in a profession. They can only work where the businesses are. They may be less mobile than wage earners.
Salaried workers do not get paid for overtime. The "workday" is more fluid for them. Wage earners often clock in and out, and hours are important to them. Especially time and a half and double-time hours.
These characteristics of the two working groups have different political appeals, which the author was trying to point out. Those differences are lost when one lumps them all together as "working people."
-PJ
What you have written has caused me to wonder something.
With all of the discussion about who is full-time vs who is part-time,
and 40 hour work weeks vs 30 hour work weeks and all of that.
How does the fedgov count salaried employees,
since their pay is not linked to a # of hours?
I am well aware of the distinctions between Exempt(what you call salaried)employees and Non-exempt (what you call hourly)employees.
They both work, and often side by side. Calling one group the working group as if the other doesn’t work is not at all accurate. To clearly indicate the distinctions you are talking about, one should use the correct terms - Exempt and Non-exempt.