I was surprised and touched by their loyalty, but maybe I missed something you noticed.
They were loyal to money, nothing to be touched by.
Any unionising effort consists of employees convincing other employees to join them. Some people will care more about the union's goals than others, and you can be certain that those who care more will pester those that care less to join their cause.
What happened at OpenAI was not a union effort, but I believe the comparison is excellent to understand normal dynamics of employee-based efforts.