Reports say U.S. chipmaker Micron has halted construction of a new fab in Taoyuan, Taiwan, over a labor dispute. The union says there has been no official announcement from the company and will attend Friday's talks as planned; Micron has not publicly confirmed the halt.
According to the United Daily News, the Micron Taoyuan union said on the 5th that rumors of a suspension of the Taoyuan expansion were not information officially announced by the company and needed further confirmation. In a related item on the same page, the paper cited Bloomberg as reporting that Micron has paused construction of its new Fab 11E. The report, citing sources, said work had nearly ground to a halt and that Micron had told Taiwanese officials and one supplier.
광고 문의 · 300×250Bloomberg's stated reason is that the labor dispute remains unresolved. As summarized by the United Daily News, Micron executives are worried about rising uncertainty, including the possibility that an agreement with the union could be overturned. This rests on anonymous sources, and it has not been confirmed whether Micron admitted the halt in an official statement.
The union's rebuttal and the talks schedule
The union said it has done nothing to harm company operations since raising its profit-sharing demand. It argued that Micron is still actively pursuing capacity growth, so there is no economic reason to delay expansion. It added that global majors such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix already run profit-sharing schemes, so sharing and expansion do not conflict.
The union also suggested the rumor may be pressure meant to make it drop its dispute actions. That is the union's interpretation; the rumor's origin and purpose have not been confirmed. It urged the company to table a proposal and come to the bargaining table rather than pressure staff by other means.
The Taoyuan city labor bureau said it has so far arranged two rounds of talks. According to the United Daily News, the Oct. 21 and 27 sessions covered bonus calculation standards and information transparency, differences remain, and a third round is expected on the 6th. The city government stressed it stays neutral, provides a platform, and protects the union's rights to organize, bargain and take dispute action under the law.
Last month's strike and the Taichung deal
The dispute has run since last month. The Central News Agency reported that 11 union cadres struck for one day from 9 a.m. on Oct. 22, while Micron said it would keep communicating and negotiate in good faith toward agreement. The same report said the Taichung union signed a labor agreement with Micron on Oct. 21, reaching a deal unlike Taoyuan.
The outcome of Friday's talks and Micron's official position were not available at the time of writing. Whether construction has actually stopped, and for how long, also remains unconfirmed. We will follow up once the talks' results and any company statement emerge.
