I pretty much agree with you. You definitely laid out a convincing answer to my question: “Is it already too late?” with a yes- the top-tier devs who work at big tech headquarters have class solidarity with the boss, not the warehouse guys.
Though I’d say it’s not all lost. People’s tribal allegiances can be complex and multi-layered. I live in an area that has a high concentration of these folks. I personally know ~10-15 people who work pretty high up in both Google and Amazon. My area, and these tech workers, are all pretty progressive, but they are also financially dependent on the companies and are scared to rock the boat.
Many of them are very very uncomfortable with how things are going. They used to be able to ignore or compartmentalize the inequality and tell themselves that the place they worked is a net good for society, despite its flaws. But, this sudden public hard-right turn from the executives is causing major cognitive dissonance for them.
These devs are either dear friends with, or are themselves, queer, racial minorities, women who want reproductive rights, etc. And they are not necessarily going to sit by while 60 years of social progress is reversed on those fronts.
I’m not saying they are going to unanimously rise up and save us. They are complex individuals with competing alliances. But I am saying that they are not a lost cause. Many of them are looking for ways to fight against what’s happening, in ways that will be effective but not loose them everything.
I definitely wasn’t trying to say you should be able to order labor rights on doordash. Just that labor shouldn’t be beholden to processes that are 50 or 150 years out of date. If Capital has changed the rules for their own benefit, Labor needs to keep up and change tactics to match.
30 years ago, if you wanted to drive an NYC taxi, you had to take classes and pass tests and buy a medallion and jump through a bunch of hoops and get exploited before you could drive.
Now, if you want to drive an Uber in NYC, you download an app, fill out a form, upload some documents, pass a background check, and you can start driving within days. Big tech didn’t worry about the rules, made it way more convenient, and won. But you’ll still get exploited by them.
If you want to start a Union today, you still have to do all the same stuff as you did 30 years ago, collecting signatures and scheduling votes and agreeing to do nothing if you lose by 1 vote. There are some apps that can make some of the grunt work digital, but they suck and still make you follow the same rules, and take forever, and companies know exactly how to counter it while it’s in early stages.
I’m saying labor needs to make it as easy as becoming an Uber driver in the sense of using digital tools in new ways to blast through obsolete rules that have become a hindrance, and coordinate individuals behind the scenes without asking for permission first.
If only 43% of workers will sign union cards or vote yes, then it’s over? "Let’s try again next year. 
"
Why is that? If only 43% of workers went on strike, the company would still be in traction and the workers who didn’t strike would have a bad day. The strikers wouldn’t have legal protection, but they basically don’t right now anyway, as Cory wrote in Firing the refs doesn’t end the game. (though Wilcox has been reinstated by the courts and that ruling is under appeal)
It should be easier and faster to organize, and it could be decentralized, and partial successes could drive immediate action, without having to wait for rounds and rounds of voting and approval and getting permission from the boss first.
But you are correct, this all requires someone credible to be persuasive and make the case publicly. The amount of buy-in by workers would have to be pretty high, even if I think it could be effective at less than 50%. There need to be leaders without ulterior motives. My mind jumps to Bernie and AOC. They are on tour and have a pretty big audience. I don’t know if they are putting forward new strategies that can disrupt the status quo in favor or labor, though.
Maybe they could get tech support from some of the devs who Trump fired from the United States Digital Service before it was gutted and converted, like a re-animated zombie, into DOGE.