Micron signs deal with union, both call off mediation

AGREEMENT REACHED: The joint statement did not disclose the details of the deal, which comes a day before the Taoyuan union is to hold a strike

Micron Memory Taiwan Co (台灣美光) and a union representing workers at its Taichung operations yesterday said that they had signed a labor-management agreement covering multiple issues, prompting both sides to withdraw from mediation scheduled for today.

The joint statement did not disclose the terms of the agreement, saying the company and the union would separately communicate details to affected employees in the coming days.

Idaho-based Micron, the world’s third-largest memory maker, employs about 15,000 people in Taiwan, a key manufacturing base where it produces DRAM and high-bandwidth memory chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) servers.

The Micron logo is displayed outside the company’s newly opened Advanced Assembly and Test Taiwan 2 facility in Taichung on Thursday last week.

Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters

Any disruption to Micron’s Taiwan operations could affect already strained global memory supplies. The AI boom has boosted major chipmakers including Micron, Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc, while also sharpening worker demands for a greater share of profits.

The agreement with the Taichung union, which represents workers at Micron’s largest Taiwan operation, comes a day before a separate union representing workers in Taoyuan is due to hold a one-day warning strike over bonuses and profit-sharing.

The Taoyuan union did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it planned to proceed with a strike today, which had been scheduled to coincide with the mediation talks.