Micron (MU.US) AI profit distribution battle escalates? Taiwanese union threatens to strike, HBM supply may be at risk

According to Jinse Finance, a Taiwanese labor union representing employees of Micron Technology (MU.US) issued a warning on Tuesday that unless the U.S. memory chip manufacturer agrees to establish a permanent profit-sharing system, it may move towards a strike, further escalating labor disputes at its largest manufacturing hub.

Taiwan is a key production center for Micron's DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are core components of AI servers. Although a strike has not yet been announced and production remains unaffected, any labor action could heighten existing supply concerns in the already tense memory chip market.

This dispute highlights increasing pressure on memory chip manufacturers to share the gains brought by the AI boom. The Micron Taiwan union pointed out that South Korean rivals Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both have employee profit-sharing plans, using this to bolster their demands.

The union stated that it is seeking a long-term, transparent, and verifiable profit-sharing system rather than a one-off reward, and reiterated its demand to allocate 15% of Micron's operating profit to global employees.

"If there is no concrete proposal on September 18 and 21, and employees feel the company is only stalling, we will declare the negotiations broken and move towards a strike vote," said Jerry Lin, president of the union representing workers at Micron's Taoyuan plant.

"Extraordinary year" and massive bonuses

Last week, Micron announced that following what the company described as an "extraordinary year," it would grant FY2026 bonuses to more than 60,000 employees globally. Under the plan, Taiwanese employees who joined before August 29, 2025, will receive a NT$1 million (approximately $31,498) cash bonus, while those joining afterward will receive bonuses on a pro-rata basis.

According to previous reports, total compensation for frontline workers in Taiwan is equivalent to 35 to 68 months' salary, with a minimum cash payout of NT$1.7 million. The total reward for junior engineers averages NT$3.4 million, with around NT$2.9 million in cash, and the rest calculated as the value of stock grants.

However, the Taoyuan union—which represents about two-thirds of Micron's employees in Taiwan—refused to accept the plan and insisted on including 15% of operating profit in the bonus distribution, maintaining the threat of a strike.

The union stated that the new reward does not address its call for a permanent profit-sharing mechanism, and criticized Micron for announcing these bonuses while labor mediation is ongoing and an agreement with the union has not yet been reached.

Micron did not link the FY2026 bonuses to the labor dispute in Taiwan nor respond directly to the strike threat. The company stated, "We will continue to listen to our team members and remain committed to sincerely engaging in the mediation process."

Further mediation meetings have been arranged between the company, the Taoyuan union, and another union representing employees in central Taiwan's Taichung City. According to the Taoyuan union, these two unions together represent over 80% of Micron's roughly 15,000 employees in Taiwan. The Taoyuan union also plans to hold an event for employees near Micron's WaferTech Industrial Park site this Thursday.