Micron’s Taiwan workers are threatening a strike unless the memory chipmaker agrees to permanent profit sharing as AI profits pile up.
According to Reuters, a Taiwanese union representing Micron Technology workers said it could move towards industrial action if the company fails to make a concrete proposal.
For those not in the know, Taiwan is a crucial manufacturing centre for Micron’s DRAM and high-bandwidth memory chips, which have become particularly tasty commodities thanks to the AI server boom.
No strike has been called, and production has not been affected. However, industrial action would hardly improve matters in a memory market already suffering tight supplies. 
The dispute centres on how much of Micron’s AI-fuelled windfall should go into workers’ pockets rather than disappearing into the usual corporate machinery. Micron’s Taiwan unions have pointed towards Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, whose employees have profit-sharing schemes, while pressing for something similar.
The union wants a permanent, transparent and verifiable system allocating 15 per cent of Micron’s operating profit to employees globally. One-off bonuses, however shiny, are not cutting the mustard.
Taoyuan Micron workers’ union chairman Jerry Lin said negotiations could unravel if the company kept dragging its feet.
“If there is no concrete proposal on September 18 and 21 and employees feel the company is simply dragging out the process, we will declare the negotiations have broken down and move towards a strike vote,” Lin said.
Micron recently announced fiscal 2026 rewards for more than 60,000 employees worldwide following what it called an “extraordinary year”.
Taiwan employees who joined before 29 August 2025 will receive a T$1 million (€27,310) cash bonus, with later recruits receiving a prorated amount.
The union said the payout failed to address its demand for a permanent profit-sharing mechanism. It was particularly unimpressed that Micron announced the rewards while labour mediation was still taking place without first reaching an agreement.
“We will continue listening to our team members’ perspectives and remain committed to engaging in the mediation process in good faith,” Micron said.
Further mediation sessions are scheduled between Micron and the Taoyuan union, along with another union representing employees in Taichung. Together they represent more than 80 per cent of Micron’s roughly 15,000 Taiwan employees. The Taoyuan union plans an event for workers on Thursday near Micron’s facility at the Hwa Ya Technology Park.