You are almost to one of the big tenets of Marxism: Employers have it out for employees; managers do not respect laborers. I think that what's missing from your insight is that every corporation, simply by dint of its legal structure and societal appearance, has an unfair modicum of power which it lords over the folks that actually do the work.
... which is why it's entirely reasonable for labour to unionise, to increase their bargaining power with employers.
One of the fundamentals of Marxism with which I disagree, though - at such a fundamental level that it drives an emotional response to the license we're discussing - is that paid labour is necessarily exploitation. That is, I consider the labour theory of value to be incorrect.
I'm reminded of the famous Reagan quote:
> How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin."
