Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) shares fell 4.41% to below $900 in Thursday’s premarket trading, extending Wednesday’s 4.10% decline, when the stock closed at $914.13.
The latest drop coincided with Taiwan’s president urging the U.S. memory-chip maker and its workers to resolve a labor dispute that could lead to a strike at a major manufacturing hub.
Speaking at Thursday’s opening of a new Micron advanced assembly and testing facility in Taichung, Lai called for sincere negotiations and stronger communication between management and employees. He said constructive labor relations would allow employees and businesses to move forward together.
His intervention followed an October 7 announcement that Micron’s Taoyuan workers’ union had secured authorization to strike over a dispute involving employee bonuses and profit-sharing arrangements.
Wednesday marked Micron’s fifth consecutive regular-session decline, leaving the stock approximately 16% below its October 7 close of $1,088. The selloff began before Thursday’s labor developments.
The broader memory-chip selloff intensified earlier this week after reports that China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) had advanced a denser 4F² DRAM cell architecture and planned to introduce a server-memory product before the end of 2026.
The development raised concerns about potential competition for established memory suppliers, including Micron. However, the technology’s commercial production yields and scalability remain unproven.
Separately, Micron Technology Tokenized bStocks (MUB) was quoted at $873.14, down 7.14% over 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. MUB is a blockchain-based instrument providing economic exposure to Micron shares and trades separately from Nasdaq-listed MU. Its 24-hour price change is therefore not directly comparable with the stock’s regular-session or premarket performance.
Micron Union Seeks 15% Profit-Sharing Plan as Strike Threat Continues
The Taoyuan union received 1,994 votes supporting strike action out of 2,012 ballots cast, representing approximately 99% of participating members and 88.3% of its 2,258 eligible members.
Union chairman Jerry Lin said no strike date had been set but warned that workers could stage a walkout at short notice if negotiations failed.
The dispute centers on the union’s demand for a permanent, transparent compensation system that would allocate 15% of Micron’s global operating profit to employee bonuses, with quarterly payments beginning in fiscal 2027.
For fiscal 2026, the Taoyuan and Taichung unions also sought a one-time payment equivalent to approximately 83 months of salary for Taiwan-based employees. They argue that Micron’s existing Incentive Pay Plan does not adequately link employee rewards to the company’s profitability.
Micron announced a fiscal 2026 compensation package in September that included a NT$1 million (approximately $31,000) cash bonus for eligible Taiwan employees, alongside performance-based and equity awards. However, the Taoyuan union said the package did not address its demand for a lasting profit-sharing mechanism.
Mediation between Micron and the Taoyuan union ended without an agreement on September 21. The separate Taichung union remains in negotiations, with another mediation session scheduled for October 22.
The unions are also encouraging workers to attend an October 19 rally in Taipei, which they have explicitly said will not constitute a strike. Micron has maintained that it respects employees’ legal rights and remains committed to constructive discussions.
The dispute poses a potential operational risk because Taiwan is a major manufacturing center for Micron’s dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), both essential to AI computing infrastructure.
Micron employs approximately 15,000 people in Taiwan. According to the unions, their Taoyuan and Taichung chapters collectively represent more than 80% of its local workforce. A prolonged strike could affect production and deliveries, although no manufacturing disruption has been reported.
Micron Opens New HBM Facility With 2027 Capacity Sold Out
The labor uncertainty comes as Micron expands its advanced memory operations in Taiwan, where it inaugurated Micron Advanced Assembly and Test Taiwan 2 (AATT2) on Thursday.
The Taichung facility is Micron’s second advanced assembly and testing plant in the country. It will expand packaging and testing capacity for HBM products used in AI servers, strengthening the company’s ability to fulfill growing customer demand.
Micron President and Chief Operating Officer Manish Bhatia said the facility’s entire planned production capacity for 2027 had already been sold out.
He also said Micron expects HBM demand to grow faster than the broader DRAM industry through 2028, highlighting the demand supporting its ongoing manufacturing expansion.
During the inauguration, Lai reaffirmed government support for advanced semiconductor development and said Micron had secured assistance for HBM research and development in Taiwan.