“Unions say peers offer far higher profit-based bonuses, with Samsung paying out 10.5% of profits and SK Hynix 10%,” Dan Nystedt said on X. “Formal mediation talks are expected to begin by mid-September at the latest, a mandatory requirement before an official strike vote can be held under Taiwan law.”
Support for a strike at Micron Taiwan over bonus pay hit 80% in a preliminary survey, as the US memory giant faces trouble similar to Samsung in May, when a last-minute deal averted a strike, media report. Taiwan labor unions are pushing to replace the current bonus system with a… August 28, 2026
Earlier this year, Samsung narrowly avoided a strike after it agreed to a deal that gave its foundry workers bonuses that could go as high as $400,000 per employee . It seems that Micron Taiwan’s labor union is following suit, especially as the company’s last earnings call reported a revenue of $41.46 billion and a net income of $28.24 billion, with its Cloud Memory Business Unit, which provides high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to data center customers, accounting for more than 33% of the total revenue.
It’s unclear if Micron workers from other parts of the world will be affected by any deal made in Taiwan, but 60% of its global production capacity is centered around the island, with most of its HBM output coming from its facilities there. With the two sides beginning talks in September, we have yet to see what kind of deal they will reach. But given how lucrative the data center boom has been for the memory industry and the precedent set by workers at Samsung and SK hynix, it’s likely that they will have comparable demands.
While we’re unsure how much bonuses the workers in Taiwan will get, it’s likely that management will negotiate as production disruptions could mean massive losses for the company. Nevertheless, it would also raise complications for workers in other countries, as it could build jealousy and resentment among other workers who will not be part of the bargain, similar to what some Samsung workers are experiencing with the recently closed labor deal.
SK hynix reaches tentative agreement with disgruntled workers
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/micron-workers-increasingly-support-strike-over-bonus-pay-labor-union-wants-profit-sharing-scheme-as-employees-at-samsung-sk-hynix-enjoy-bonuses-worth-hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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