Districts of Taoyuan City

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Workers at the Kwai Kwai Snack factory in Taoyuan's Zhongli District walked off the job on Thursday in the company's first strike in its 57-year history, escalating within hours from a one-day warning strike to an indefinite stoppage.

The union is demanding compensation after the company sold the Zhongli plant's land in July and plans to relocate, arguing workers may never receive a promised 5% pay raise if the factory moves within two years.

Management, backed by its parent group, said it has already raised wages 5%, pledged no layoffs for two years, and offered up to eight months of severance, while the Taoyuan city government has stepped in to mediate.

Kuai Kuai, whose green puffed corn snacks are famously placed on machinery by Taiwanese engineers as a good luck charm, has roughly a month of inventory left, and the union is urging the chairman to negotiate.

Now to defence.