Taiwan's chip talisman snack faces production halt after 94% strike vote

Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is driven by the ruthless application of science, economics, and the dedication of its employees. But superstitious engineers think there’s another key ingredient – strategically placed bags of creamy coconut flavored Guai Guai snacks in their traditional green livery. These bags of snacks are found with surprising regularity around Taiwan, placed on machinery used to make semiconductors and other computing products, as the prevailing superstition is that the snacks bring good luck. Alarmingly, the Taipei Times recently reported that production of these tech talisman snacks could be halted, as the company that makes Guai Guai is facing a severe threat of strike action.

The Guai Guai Company factory in Zhongli, Taiwan, has operated since 1968, and more than a third of its workforce have been with the company for 30 years or more. On September 1 this year, the company revealed that it would relocate to Hsinchu, about 45 minutes south by car. Kind of ironically, Guai Guai is relocating to Taiwan's Silicon Valley, yet this action could grind production to a halt.

Workers can retain their positions if they relocate or commute to the new factory. Also they have been offered a 5% increase in pay. It is noted by the worker’s union that 5% is merely in line with the newly announced changes to Taiwan’s minimum wage.

Another grievance felt by the workers concerns the massive windfall that the company is getting for the sale of its Zhongli site. Taiwan’s Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. (ASE) has bought it for redevelopment. This has netted the company NT$5.6 billion (US$176.1 million). No bonus, dividend, or any other kind of benefit will be shared with the workers.

Thus the union is looking for the company to make written guarantees on severance packages and pay raises, writes the Taipei Times. Specifically, the disgruntled factory workers are looking for a share of the ‘AI windfall’ with weight given to longer-serving staff. Moreover it is seeking severance packages for those who don’t want to work so far away, and asking that workers who stay on get a NT$10,000 (US$315) monthly salary increase.

A massive 94% of the Guai Guai workers voted in favor of strike action. They are now just waiting for the company response, the results of the negotiations between the snack-making company and the union.

Negotiations between management and the union are expected to continue this week, but we haven’t seen any further news from Taiwan on this matter yet. Taiwan’s government doesn’t take an entirely neutral stance, according to the source. The company’s offer should respect the years of service of the workers and secure the livelihoods their labor had earned, reckons the local Taoyuan Department of Labor, which is monitoring the situation and could decide to step in.

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