Strike Vote Threatens Output of Taiwan’s Semiconductor Lucky Snack
Workers at the Zhongli factory that makes Guai Guai snacks voted 94% to strike over the company’s planned relocation to Hsinchu and the NT$5.6 billion ($176.1 million) sale of its site to ASE. The company offered a 5% pay increase, but the union says it only matches Taiwan’s newly announced minimum wage changes. Guai Guai snacks are popularly placed on semiconductor equipment in Taiwan as good-luck charms.
The Zhongli plant has made Guai Guai since 1968, and more than a third of its employees have spent three decades or more there. On Sept. 1, the maker said it would move about 45 minutes south to Hsinchu, where staff could transfer or commute. It offered a 5% raise, which the union calls equivalent to Taiwan's new minimum-wage adjustment.
ASE purchased the old site for NT$5.6 billion (US$176.1 million), but workers say they will receive no share of that proceeds. The union wants written severance and pay guarantees, a share of the sale-related windfall weighted toward senior staff, and NT$10,000 (US$315) more monthly for those who stay. A 94% strike vote followed.
If a strike proceeds, output of Guai Guai snacks could be disrupted, affecting workers, local supply chains, and the semiconductor firms and engineers who use the snacks as informal good-luck tokens. The dispute may also draw attention to how factory relocations and property windfalls affect long-serving employees, and could influence labor negotiations elsewhere in Taiwan's tech sector. Government monitoring may shape the outcome.