The order for the new factory was scheduled to run until 2027, and the workers were going to go to the streets: how should the profit of Taiwan's semiconductor be divided?

A new advanced containment test plant in the station was inaugurated on 15 October. On stage, the president and operator of American Light Technology, Manish Bhatia, told the guests that the new plant had been fully sold in 2027 and that the demand for high-frequency wide memory, driven by artificial intelligence, would continue to grow. The Taiwan-based trade union in Hong Kong is arguing over another bill: how much profit should be paid to the employees?

The order is already full and does not represent a consensus between the labour and labour parties on the distribution of the bonus. The large American chip factory with some 15,000 employees in Taiwan is a beauty, and is facing pressure from unions in China and the peach garden to change the system of performance bonuses. The TAI-CAI-CAI Union has been authorized by its members to strike if necessary; The September mediation by the Peach Gardens Union did not reach agreement.

In September, trade union representatives outside the peach garden plant raised banners to require companies to publicly explain their remuneration systems and to allow workers to share their profits in a fair manner. Reuters reported on 1 September that trade unions wanted to establish a long-term red-redunded mechanism directly linked to business profits, requiring that 15 per cent of future business profits be raised as a bonus each season, rather than that companies continue the current annual bonus arrangement. The union also claimed a one-time bonus for the 2026 fiscal year well above the average level of remuneration, and the difference was not simply “wanted or not to increase”, but who had the right to decide the rules for the distribution of the prosperity of the enterprise.

The president is here, and labor issues are on the stage

On 15 October, Taiwan President Reyqingde attended the inauguration of the American Light Advanced Seal and Test II (AATT2) in Taiwan and publicly called for genuine negotiations between the labour and labour communities. He described the relationship between fish and water as interdependent and hoped for a consensus between new investments and stable employment. As a major production base, Taiwan has received government support for the development of HF wide memory.

Mi-soo responded to the willingness to engage constructively with staff and emphasized the competitiveness of the bonus programme; Trade unions, for their part, have expressed to Reuters their desire for more substantive negotiations with companies. The parties have not yet reached agreement and the current round of official strikes has not yet taken place. The union planned to hold a rally in Taipei on 19 October, making it clear that the action was not a strike; The planned meeting cannot be pre-written as a stoppage that has already taken place.

From chip orders to employee bonus

The labour conflict in semiconductor factories is in contrast to the story of the loss of staff in the photovoltaic industry: it is not the drying up of orders, but the strong demand for AI; The dispute is not about whether factories are viable, but about what institutional sharing workers should receive when profits are rising and production capacity is strained.

Trade unions in Taiwan can vote to authorize strikes, negotiate with businesses, hold public gatherings and seek mediation from the Government. This institutional channel does not guarantee that trade unions will win, but rather provides an opportunity for labour disputes to be resolved through open rules, rather than being seen as a factor of social instability that must be suppressed. This difference is particularly worth comparing with the continental governance system of China, which is accustomed to incorporating collective workers ' action into the logic of stability.

The capacity of the American Light Plant has been booked by its clients, while the ratio of the staff to the Red Cross is still at the negotiating table. The fact that the 19 October rally will promote a substantive agreement will depend on whether the U.S. Government has a verifiable distribution plan and whether the trade unions will translate the high demand into a long-term, transparent and enforceable system.