Formosa Plastics Group to raise wages 4.5%, exceeding union demands

Taipei, July 14 (CNA) Conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) has decided to raise wages for its employees by 4.5 percent this year, exceeding the 3.66 percent raise requested by the group's worker union.

Speaking with reporters, Chen Hung-ju (陳鴻儒), deputy head of the FPG workers' union, said the decision was made after a meeting earlier in the day in which FPG President Wu Chia-chao (吳嘉昭) discussed the issue with union representatives.

It was the first time that Wu held such negotiations with the union since he took the helm from his predecessor Wong Wen-yuan (王文淵) in August 2025.

The wage increase will allow FPG employees to pocket an additional NT$2,700 (US$86.54) on average a month, an estimate made based on the average wage of about NT$60,000 among rank and file employees in the group, the union said.

Local news media said the wage hike will take affect retroactively on July 1.

In addition to the wage hike, the union said the FPG will provide an additional NT$600 in food subsidies and NT$5,000 in rent subsidies per month to company workers.

Chen said the union asked for a 3.66 percent hike in wages, hoping that higher pay would ease inflationary pressures, given signs that the group's bottom line was improving. The wage hike in 2025 was only 2 percent because of poor results.

In the first half of 2026, the four major entities of the FPG -- Formosa Plastics Corp., Nan Ya Plastics Corp., Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. and Formosa Petrochemical Corp. -- turned a net profit of NT$108.45 billion.

Chen said the negotiations with Wu lasted for less than 30 minutes to reach a consensus with the union for a 4.5 percent wage hike.

According to Chen, the last time the group gave a wage hike of as much as 4.5 percent was in 2022.