Taiwan union ends bonus talks with Micron after defeat
A union representing workers at a Micron Technology plant in Taiwan said it will pull out of further negotiations after failing to secure a new profit-sharing deal. The US chip giant has seen soaring revenues from AI demand, but the union acknowledged its campaign was unsuccessful.
A union representing workers at a Micron Technology plant in Taiwan said on Thursday it will pull out of further talks with the US chip giant after what it described as “our defeat” in trying to secure a new profit-sharing deal.
Surging global demand for chips used in AI data centres has sent revenues soaring for firms like Micron, and as their earnings skyrocket, workers are calling for a bigger cut of profits.
Micron, which makes around 50 to 60 per cent of its memory chips in Taiwan, has been locked in weeks of talks over remuneration with a union representing hundreds of workers at its Taoyuan plant. More than 2,000 employees had threatened to strike as they pushed for a bigger share of the company’s earnings. In the end, only a handful of employees stopped working for one day.
“We formally acknowledge that our campaign to secure a profit-sharing system has not been successful, and we must continue our efforts in the future,” the union representing the Taoyuan workers said in a statement, acknowledging “our defeat”. The union said its members could go ahead and sign an agreement with the company, adding that it will “no longer participate” in negotiations scheduled for 17 November.
Micron did not immediately respond.
At Micron’s larger plant in Taichung, the union representing thousands of workers there signed an agreement with the company last month after they “reached consensus on a number of matters”, a joint statement said at the time. Micron had agreed to move to a quarterly profit-sharing bonus system, in addition to the annual bonus, and increase the company’s pension contribution, Micron Taiwan chairman Lu Donghui said.