Micron Technology shares fell as much as 3% on Tuesday after labor unions representing workers in Taoyuan and Taichung signaled they were moving toward possible strike action over a dispute about bonuses and profit-sharing. The unions, which say they represent nearly 10,000 of Micron’s roughly 15,000 Taiwan-based employees, said more than 80% of members who participated in an internal survey in August backed a strike.
The central demand is a change to Micron’s Incentive Pay Plan. For fiscal 2026, unions are seeking an additional one-off bonus they estimate at about 83 months’ salary per Taiwan-based employee. From fiscal 2027, they want a new system that allocates 15% of operating profit to employee bonuses, paid quarterly rather than annually. Micron says its compensation package already includes base pay, annual performance incentives, operational bonuses and equity programs, and that this year’s performance payout will be the highest in company history.
The unions have cited profit-sharing agreements at Samsung and SK Hynix as benchmarks. Samsung averted a major strike in South Korea in May by agreeing to a bonus pool worth 10.5% of its chip division’s operating profit, while SK Hynix has committed 10% of annual operating profit to employee bonuses. More broadly, the dispute highlights Taiwan’s importance in the semiconductor supply chain: Taiwan is Micron’s largest manufacturing base, where it produces DRAM and high-bandwidth memory chips, and authorities said the company has invested about NT$1.4 trillion, or roughly $43.9 billion, on the island.
Under Taiwanese law a strike must be preceded by mediation, so any work stoppage is not imminent. The Central Taiwan Science Park administration said it is facilitating talks and could launch formal mediation if needed. Micron reported record fiscal third-quarter revenue of $41.46 billion and net income of $28.24 billion for the quarter ended May 28, and its market value stood at around $1.10 trillion. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te addressed the situation Tuesday, saying the semiconductor sector was built through long-term cooperation and that Taiwan had consistently honored its commitments to global supply.
