[News] Micron Taiwan’s Taoyuan Union Secures Right to Strike With 88.3% Support; Taichung Mediation Set for Oct. 22
Micron’s Taoyuan union has secured the legal right to strike after nearly 90% of its members backed industrial action. According to Taiwan People News, 1,994 of 2,258 registered members voted in favor between October 1 and 6, representing 88.3% of total membership and exceeding the required majority.
The report notes that Micron has separate enterprise unions at its Taoyuan and Taichung plants, with Taoyuan becoming the first to secure the right to strike. The Taichung union is scheduled for a second labor-management mediation session on October 22 and could proceed to a strike vote if no agreement is reached.
Union chairman Lin Che-jui called on Micron to present concrete proposals and negotiate with the union as the company’s board meets on October 8 and 9. Without meaningful progress, the union will discuss further action, with members to be notified by text message once the timing of any surprise strike is confirmed, Newtalk notes. Central News Agency adds that the union is also planning a demonstration on Ketagalan Boulevard on October 19, encouraging employees to take leave to participate.
TrendForce notes that Micron’s Taoyuan fab primarily produces DRAM. If a strike takes place and disrupts equipment maintenance and process monitoring by engineers, production yields and stability could decline, potentially affecting output. The impact on supply could gradually increase if the strike is prolonged. However, TrendForce notes that the actual impact will depend on the scale and duration of the strike, as well as Micron’s contingency measures, with the outcome of labor-management negotiations still requiring close attention.
Union Pushes for 15% Profit-Sharing Plan
Lin highlighted disparities in performance-based compensation. In 2025, Micron’s global employee IPP performance factor was 93.9%, translating into about 2.3 months of performance bonuses for Taiwan employees before being adjusted to 2.6 months. The CEO, meanwhile, received annual cash performance compensation equivalent to 32.4 months of pay. While the two awards fall under different programs, Lin argued that both reflect value created through company performance but that rewards have not been fairly distributed to rank-and-file employees, Newtalk adds.
The union also pointed to disparities in stock-based rewards, as noted by Yahoo Finance. It says only about 40% of Micron Taiwan employees had previously received stock awards, with limited transparency around eligibility and allocation, while senior executives received substantially larger awards.
Against this backdrop, the union is calling for a profit-sharing system tied to 15% of Micron’s operating profit. It also pointed to Samsung and SK hynix, which it said have reward or profit-sharing systems linked to company profits or operating performance. Even under the proposed 15% allocation, the union said Micron employees’ average payouts would not necessarily exceed those received by employees at the two Korean memory makers, according to Yahoo Finance.
In response to these concerns, the Taoyuan and Taichung unions have jointly put forward four demands, according to Newtalk: an additional one-time FY2026 bonus based on 15% of Micron’s global operating profit, estimated at about 83 months of pay per Taiwan employee; an overhaul of the IPP system from FY2027 to distribute 15% of operating profit on a quarterly basis; a “no free-rider” clause; and a “non-retaliation” clause protecting employees who participate in union activities.
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(Photo credit: Micron)
