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Micron Still Faces October 22 Taiwan Strike; Reaches Deal with Another Union

Micron has reached a labour-management agreement with a union at its Taichung operations in Taiwan, but a separate union's planned October 22 strike over employee bonuses and profit-sharing remains unresolved.
Micron workers wearing hard hats at a semiconductor manufacturing facility.
October 21, 2026 11:50 PM IST | Written by Neelam Sharma | Edited by Pratima O Pareek

The Taoyuan workers’ union at Micron Technology in Taiwan is planning a one-day warning strike on October 22 over disputes concerning employee bonuses and profit-sharing. Separately, Micron Memory Taiwan, a subsidiary of Micron Technology, has reached a labour-management agreement with the union representing workers at its Taichung operations.

The US-based memory chipmaker said the company and the Taichung union had agreed to withdraw from mediation scheduled for Wednesday. The agreement’s terms were not disclosed. Micron employs approximately 15,000 people in Taiwan and has invested more than T$1.6 trillion ($50 billion) on the island, Reuters reported.

Taichung is Micron’s largest manufacturing site in Taiwan. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te last week urged Micron and its employees to negotiate “sincerely” while attending the opening of the Micron Taiwan’s second advanced packaging and testing facility in Taichung.

Micron President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Manish Bhatia said the facility expands the company’s advanced packaging and testing capabilities for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to meet growing global demand for AI infrastructure. He also thanked Taiwan’s president and government officials for their support.


The AI boom has boosted memory chipmakers, including Micron, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, while also intensifying workers’ demands for a greater share of company profits.

The Taoyuan union announced the planned walkout on Tuesday, accusing management of failing to provide a concrete response to its demands. The union said Micron had failed to provide specific figures for a proposed profit-sharing scheme during negotiations held on Wednesday.

Micron, the world’s third-largest memory chipmaker, manufactures dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips in Taiwan. These components are used in AI servers and data centres, making Taiwan a key production base for the company.

The Taoyuan union has also questioned how Micron calculates employee bonuses. Workers have urged the company to adopt compensation practices comparable to those of Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Winbond Electronics and TSMC.

In May, Samsung Electronics averted a strike by agreeing to allocate 10.5% of its semiconductor division’s operating profit towards special employee bonuses, subject to profitability targets.

Last year, SK Hynix agreed to distribute 10% of its annual operating profit through its employee profit-sharing programme, removing an existing cap on payouts.

Micron Technology inaugurated India’s first semiconductor assembly and test facility in Sanand, Gujarat, on February 28, 2026. Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the facility represents an investment of $2.75 billion and processes DRAM and NAND wafers from Micron’s global manufacturing network into finished memory and storage products.

Also Read: Why Taiwan Still Sits at the Center of the US-China AI Race

Authors

  • Neelam Sharma, reporter at AI FrontPage

    Neelam Sharma is a passionate storyteller, and journalist with over a decade of experience across leading Indian media houses.
    Known for her calm presence on screen and powerful storytelling off it, Neelam brings a rare blend of credibility, creativity, and empathy to journalism. Her strength lies in ground reporting and research-driven narratives that connect with the heart of the audience. Whether covering social issues, human-interest features, or breaking news, she combines factual depth with a human touch—making every story not just informative.

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  • Pratima Pareek, Editor and Co-founder of AI FrontPage

    Pratima O Pareek is an Editor and Co-Founder of AI FrontPage. A gold medalist in Mass Communication and Journalism, she's worked across national and international newsrooms, bringing sharp editorial instincts and a commitment to clarity. She believes in cutting through the noise to deliver stories that actually matter.
    Off the clock, she watches offbeat cinema, follows tennis, and explores new places like a traveler, not a tourist.

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