White is modifying collar, not race, in this circumstance, and in this case also affects other workers (as he explicitly says in the article.) The point was that this Taylorism now affected the group of people historically immune to it.
Do you know what "white collar" means?
I normally hyphenate such expressions when they function as adjectives: "white-collar workers". Obviously I'm a bit "old-fashioned" in that respect. (I may also be old.)
And its opposite is blue-collar so nothing to do with racism. Unless smurfs feel discriminated against :)
It’s a reference to working class jobs that are predominantly held by inbred British royalty.