Taoyuan Micron workers’ union goes on strike

A union representing Micron Technology Inc workers in Taoyuan said it would launch a strike tomorrow to coincide with a mediation meeting between the US chipmaker and another collective representing workers at its Taichung operations, escalating a dispute over employee bonuses.

Tomorrow’s strike raises the stakes in a labor dispute at one of Micron’s most important manufacturing hubs, where it produces DRAM and high-bandwidth memory chips, key components in artificial intelligence (AI) servers.

The strike is intended to show solidarity with the Taichung union and to increase pressure on Micron to put forward a concrete profit-sharing proposal, the Taoyuan union said.

Union members representing workers at Micron Technology Inc’s operations in Taoyuan attend a news conference in Taipei on Oct. 7.

Photo: Lin Yi-ju, Taipei Times

Micron employs about 15,000 people in Taiwan, with separate unions representing workers at its Taoyuan and Taichung operations. The company has said it has invested more than NT$1.6 trillion (US$49.1 billion) in the nation.

Mediation between Micron and the Taoyuan union ended without an agreement last month. The union secured authorization from its members to strike early this month.

The Taichung union, which represents workers at Micron’s largest operation in Taiwan, remains in negotiations with the company. It has yet to hold a vote on whether to strike.

The Taoyuan union did not specify how long the solidarity strike would last, saying it would release more details tomorrow.

“Through our actions, we will make our dissatisfaction with the current system heard and demonstrate our determination to establish a fair profit-sharing system,” the Taoyuan union said in a statement on Monday.

Micron said yesterday that the company is “committed to constructive engagement with the Taoyuan and Taichung unions to reach a solution that works for all parties.”

The unions are seeking a one-off bonus of 83 months’ salary as well as a permanent system that allocates 15 percent of the company’s operating profits to worker bonuses, distributed quarterly rather than annually.

Micron, which makes 50 to 60 percent of its chips in Taiwan, said last month it would give the equivalent of up to 68 months of pay to staff, but the one-off payment was rejected by workers.

President William Lai (賴清德) last week called for Micron and its workers to negotiate “sincerely.”