A union representing workers at a Micron Technology plant in Taiwan said Thursday it will pull out of further talks with the US chip giant after "our defeat" in trying to secure a new profit-sharing deal.
Surging global demand for chips used in AI data centres has sent revenues soaring for firms like Micron, and as their earnings skyrocket, workers are calling for a bigger cut of profits.
Micron, which makes around 50-60 percent of its memory chips in Taiwan, has been locked in weeks of talks over remuneration with a union representing hundreds of workers at its Taoyuan plant.
More than 2,000 employees had threatened to strike as they pushed for a bigger share of the company's earnings. In the end, only a handful of employees stopped working for one day.
"We formally acknowledge that our campaign to secure a profit-sharing system has not been successful, and we must continue our efforts in the future," the union representing the Taoyuan workers said in a statement, acknowledging "our defeat".
The union said its members could go ahead with the company's requirement to sign an agreement "waiving the right to future disputes" in order to receive "bonuses and other new employment benefits".
It added it will "no longer participate" in negotiations scheduled for November 17.
Micron denied that it had required employees to "sign individual agreements or to waive any rights".
"Micron respects team members' lawful rights to organize a union and to engage in collective bargaining," the company said in a statement, adding that it will "continue to seek constructive dialogue with the Taoyuan Union".
At Micron's larger plant in Taichung, the union representing thousands of workers there signed an agreement with the company last month after they "reached consensus on a number of matters", a joint statement said at the time.
Micron had agreed to move to a quarterly profit-sharing bonus system, in addition to the annual bonus, and increase the company's pension contribution, Micron Taiwan chairman Lu Donghui said.
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