@kinetictony There is no upper class. You are an owner, or you are a laborer.
The CEO will lose their income if they stop working, they are a laborer, although I assume they are the CEO of straw man inc. they would also be in a very good position to become an owner due to the salary being in excess of their needs.
Retirees with private investments are part of the owner class as they live off the labor of others. They would be at the very bottom of that class, but it’s still ownership of labor. Their interest lies in maximum return on capital, not supporting the labor class.
Someone living off government assistance clearly doesn’t own any capital, so I’m not sure why you would think they are anything other than a laborer without work.