Micron Technology's operations in Taiwan face a strike starting on the 22nd, with the union demanding up to 15% of the company's operating profit as performance pay.
The union at Micron's plant in Taoyuan, Taiwan, said it would launch the walkout after consulting with the union at the company's other site in Taichung, Reuters reported on the 20th.
The Taoyuan and Taichung sites each have a separate union. The Taoyuan union, which represents about 15% of Micron's workforce in Taiwan, approved the strike with 88.3% in favor in a recent membership vote. The Taichung union, which represents the remainder, is still in talks with the company and has not yet held a strike vote. The Taichung union also plans to reach a conclusion with management on the 22nd, making that day a turning point for a full walkout.
Last month, Micron said it would offer production workers in Taiwan a compensation package equivalent to 35 to 68 months of base pay, combining annual salary, performance pay and stock awards. The union, however, is not satisfied and is demanding a one-time bonus equivalent to 83 months of pay, along with a permanent profit-sharing scheme that would distribute 15% of operating profit to workers. The aim is to secure a profit-sharing structure linked to company earnings, similar to those at South Korean chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS).
Taiwan is a core memory chip production base for Micron, turning out DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), key components for artificial intelligence servers. Micron employs about 15,000 people in Taiwan. The company sources roughly 50% to 60% of its chip output from the island, and because the Taoyuan and Taichung unions together represent more than 80% of local employees, an actual strike is expected to affect production operations. Micron said it has invested more than 1.6 trillion Taiwan dollars, or about $49 billion, in Taiwan to date.