Labor unions at U.S. memory chipmaker Micron Technology's Taiwan operations have threatened to strike, demanding an overhaul of the bonus system and a larger share of profits, Reuters reported on the 1st.
Two unions representing workers at Micron's plants in Taoyuan and Taichung told Reuters that more than 80% of their members voted in favor of a strike in an internal online survey conducted last month.
The unions count nearly 10,000 members among roughly 15,000 workers at the two sites.
Micron's Taiwan unit told Reuters that bonus payouts this year would be the largest in the company's history, adding that it would comply with legal procedures and continue talks with employees through existing channels.
The strike threat comes as the artificial intelligence boom deepens a supply-demand imbalance in the global memory chip market. Memory makers including Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS) are posting hefty operating profits on surging demand. The unions said profit-sharing arrangements at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix had widened the gap in compensation between Micron workers and their counterparts in South Korea's chip industry. Samsung Electronics, which faced the prospect of a walkout in May, agreed with its union to set aside 10.5% of operating profit at its semiconductor division as funding for special performance bonuses.
A strike at Micron, the world's third-largest memory chipmaker, would have significant global repercussions. The company has made Taiwan its largest production base, investing 1.4 trillion Taiwan dollars (about 60.65 trillion won, or roughly $46 billion) to produce DRAM and high-bandwidth memory.
