I think the author is missing something- when labor productivity goes up due to automation, the increase in profits goes to whoever owns the machines not to the people working them. I mean after all, if you invest money in some equipment, you expect to be the one to get the returns on that investment. Altering that equation could take, as the author suggests, an outside force such as labor unions or government intervention- but the only long term solution is probably for the people who own the machines, and the people who work the machines, to be the same people.