Asia Techonomics: Arbeitskampf in Ostasien – Chipfabriken stehen still, „wenn dein starker Arm es will“
Die extremen Gewinne der Chiphersteller stärken Asiens Gewerkschaften. Nach Südkorea drängen nun auch Taiwans Arbeiter auf eine Erfolgsbeteiligung. Doch die Megaboni werfen Probleme auf.
In the digital age, it may seem that the power of labor unions is waning. However, the artificial intelligence boom is reigniting their fighting spirit in Asia. At the heart of this movement is the semiconductor industry, whose revenues and profits have skyrocketed due to the construction boom fueled by AI data centers. The struggle for a high share of workers' profits, which began in South Korea in the spring and was hailed as historic, has now turned to Taiwan's semiconductor hub.
Suddenly, the old German workers' hymn from 1863, "Die Wacht am Rhein," might be reprised as "All chip fabs stand still when your strong arm will," could become the rallying cry. The original version had the wheels still turning. The recent example of the "strong arm" comes from Taiwan's workforce of the US chip giant Micron, who are threatening to go on strike.
If negotiations with management over bonuses fail, the semiconductor production and many supply chains could grind to a halt.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
