Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) workers in Taiwan are threatening a strike after the AI memory boom sent the chipmaker's profits soaring, with unions saying their proposed one-time bonus would equal about 83 months of salary. Two unions representing nearly 10,000 of Micron's roughly 15,000 workers in Taoyuan and Taichung are pushing for strike action. More than 80% of workers who participated in an August union survey backed a walkout, Reuters reported.
From fiscal 2027, they want Micron to set aside 15% of operating profit for quarterly employee bonuses. Micron said this year's performance bonus will already be the largest in company history.
AI Memory Boom Fuels Pay Fight
The demand follows a dramatic jump in Micron's profitability. Fiscal third-quarter revenue rose to $41.46 billion from $9.30 billion a year earlier, while operating income surged to $33.32 billion from $2.17 billion.
Micron expects fourth-quarter revenue of about $50 billion and a gross margin near 86%.
Workers are also pointing to more generous profit-sharing deals at Micron's rivals. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (OTC: SSNLF) agreed this year to set aside 10.5% of its chip division's operating profit for bonuses, while SK Hynix Inc. (NASDAQ: SKHY) has committed 10% of annual operating profit to employee payouts.
Taiwan Sits at Center of Micron's Supply Chain
Taiwan is Micron's largest manufacturing base globally, according to the island's government, and produces both DRAM and high-bandwidth memory.
Micron said in a regulatory filing that a majority of its 2025 DRAM output came from Taiwan, warning that losing production there could have a material adverse effect on the company.
That makes the labor dispute a potential supply risk for investors. Any prolonged disruption could tighten already-constrained memory supply, particularly as AI data centers drive demand for HBM.
The unions have not yet authorized a strike. Taiwan requires failed mediation and a formal secret ballot backed by more than half of a union's membership before workers can walk out.
Prediction Traders Still Back AI Boom
The dispute adds another potential supply risk to an AI boom that Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang says is already constrained by how much computing hardware the industry can produce.
Micron is shipping HBM4 designed for Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform. Huang said at GTC Taipei that AI demand remains "incredibly high," while the amount of available computing capacity remains a constraint.
That makes any prolonged disruption at Micron's biggest manufacturing base more relevant to the AI trade.
Polymarket traders give Nvidia a 77% chance of finishing 2026 as the world's largest company by market capitalization, with more than $6.5 million traded on the market.
Micron is only one of Nvidia's memory suppliers, but a broader spread of labor disruption across memory producers could add pressure to a supply chain that Nvidia already says is constrained.