The ownership class and the labor class both suffer from a coordination problem.

The former from the coordination problem of extracting wealth but not fast enough that it solves the coordination problem for the labor class who, like you said, have strike first and revolt second as their battles of last resort.

The ownership class can voluntarily reduce wealth inequality, and they have before, but as history progresses and time marches on, so do the memories fade of what happens when they don't, pushing them closer and closer to options they don't want to admit work.