美光台湾工厂罕见罢工折射AI繁荣下的劳资利润分配矛盾

About a dozen workers at a Micron Technology plant in Taoyuan in Taiwan went on strike in October, the first in the island’s semiconductor industry, after their union and the chipmaker failed to reach an agreement on salaries and bonuses. Their one-day action, while largely symbolic, is a reflection of the growing discontent among laborers in the artificial intelligence industry over how profits are distributed.  

The leading American memory chipmaker has posted record profits this year on the back of surging demand for AI chips. Unions representing workers at Micron’s facilities in Taoyuan and Taichung have been negotiating with the company for months for a profit-sharing agreement similar to those reached by employees at rivals Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in South Korea.

“Making a profit is perfectly fine, but the rank and file should get a share of the profit instead of this unequal distribution between high-level executives and the rank and file,” Jerry Lin, president of Micron’s Taoyuan union, told Rest of World.

The global tech industry is heavily reliant on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. Idaho-based Micron, the world’s third-biggest memory chipmaker, employs more than 15,000 workers in Taiwan. They produce over 60% of the company’s dynamic random access memory chips, used in AI servers. A prolonged workers’ strike could severely disrupt already strained supplies of memory chips worldwide.

Micron on October 22 said it had reached an agreement with the Taichung union for higher salaries and quarterly bonuses, and bigger contributions to the pension accounts of all workers at its Taiwan operations. But many union members rejected the deal, which they said was made in secret, while the majority of members of the Taoyuan union said they were dissatisfied with the terms of the agreement. 

“We do not accept the deal. None of our demands were fulfilled,” a Taoyuan union member, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, told Rest of World. “We are surprised that the Taichung union representatives signed the deal.” 

The Taoyuan union, which is registered as a separate entity with more than 2,300 members, can still go on strike. 

Micron respects the workers’ “lawful rights and the applicable legal process,” a spokesperson for the company told Rest of World. “We are committed to constructive engagement with the Taoyuan and Taichung unions to reach a solution that works for all parties.”

Heightened consumer concern

Labor disputes and strikes in Taiwan have historically been associated with traditional industries. The actions by the Micron workers’ unions signal a broader shift as semiconductor workers increasingly organize to demand greater transparency and a fairer share of the value they help create, Wu Yu-ren, a labor relations professor at National Chung Cheng University, told Rest of World.

Over the past few months, membership in Micron’s two worker unions has surged from around 440 to more than 13,000. Earlier this year, employees of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. — which makes about 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors and 99% of the chips used to train frontier AI models — also discussed unionizing and striking over pay.

Taiwan’s high-tech companies have traditionally used generous benefits and bonuses to discourage workers from forming unions. White-collar tech workers have tended to change jobs instead of seeking collective action.

Now, “soaring demand for high-end memory has driven up share prices and corporate profits, making workers question how those gains are distributed,” Wu said. “The labor actions of Samsung and SK Hynix have also influenced the unionization of Taiwan tech workers.”

Across the world, policymakers, economists, and civil society groups are grappling with the widening gap between those who are benefiting from the AI boom and those who are being left behind. U.S. startups alone have created 19 billionaires worth a combined $59 billion over the past year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 

The Micron workers’ actions come as American frontier AI company Anthropic prepares to launch what could be the world’s biggest initial public offering, valuing the company at nearly $2 trillion. Its founders, investors, and some employees stand to become very wealthy.

In Taiwan, negotiations between Micron’s Taoyuan union and the company are continuing. In the event of another strike, the impact of a brief stop in production would likely be limited if backup personnel are available for equipment maintenance, process monitoring, and troubleshooting, Ellie Wang, an analyst at consulting firm TrendForce, told Rest of World. 

“The main consequence would be heightened customer concern over delivery reliability,” she said.

But if worker discontent spreads to other facilities or if there are prolonged strikes, it could disrupt supplies to downstream AI hardware makers such as Nvidia, and drive up prices. It would also hurt Taiwan’s wider economy, with the semiconductor sector making up more than a fifth of gross domestic product.

The stakes are high. Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, attended Micron’s opening ceremony for its new plant in Taichung last month, and urged the company and its workers to reach an agreement. “Corporations and employees should help each other like fish and water,” he said.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor said it would provide assistance and facilitate further dialogue between Micron and the Taoyuan union. “We hope that both parties will be willing to negotiate, reach a consensus as soon as possible and bring the dispute to an end,” it said in a statement. 

Building a constructive labor-management relationship before disputes escalate will be a challenge for Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, Pan Shih-wei, a former labor minister and adjunct labor relations professor, told Rest of World. “Taiwan has traditionally relied on government intervention for labor disputes, and companies lack established channels for dialogue with workers.” 

The Micron dispute could lead to a wider labor movement as younger workers become more conscious of their rights, Pan said. 

“High-tech companies really need to take a closer look at how they manage labor relations,” he said. “Discussions about strikes and the distribution of profits will become increasingly common. … Ultimately, determining the profit-sharing ratio requires negotiations and engagement between the parties.”