battler

noun3

1. •
   One who wages battle against an enemy; a soldier; a general.
2. •
   One who works hard in the face of adversity.

   • Dave Rust and Scotty Salmon failed at their Mount Elizabeth venture and are now again at the old love, Karunjie. Good luck to such battlers. — 1937
3. •
   (Australia, old-fashioned) An itinerant worker or unemployed person.

   • “But look here!” interrupted the Pilgrim, desperately, “we can′t afford to wait! We′re only ‘battlers’, me and my mate, pickin′ up crumbs by the wayside. We′ve got to catch the——” — 1900