The service technicians repairing Samsung Electronics products have formed a trade union. On July 11, they filed a lawsuit seeking verification on the status of the workers, claiming they were employed under a "sham" contract-they received orders directly from Samsung Electronics Service. Now all eyes are on this union to see whether it will become the first major union in a Samsung workplace.

More than 360 employees of Samsung Electronics Service partner firms attended the founding ceremony and inaugural meeting of the Samsung Electronics Service branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union, a member of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions at Seoul Women's Plaza in Daebang-dong, Seoul on July 14.

They did not reveal the number and names of the union members, but they are known to have more than 800 members at present. If the court recognizes the status of these workers as employees of a Samsung affiliate, the union will become the first large-scale trade union voluntarily established by the workers in Samsung. There are currently about 10,000 employees of partner companies working as service technicians and at call centers and supplies centers.

On July 14, Wi Yeong-il, newly elected chairman of the Samsung Electronics Service union and executive members wave the union flag at the inaugural meeting of the union at Seoul Women's Plaza in Daebang-dong, Seoul. Park Min-gyu

The union will send a request for negotiations in the name of the chairman of the Korean Metal Workers' Union to the chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics Service next week and plan to demand negotiations at each regional center. In their resolution the Samsung Electronics Service union said, "From the moment we joined the company, we received technical training at Samsung Electronics and received orders after being assigned to the partner companies. The partner company was not an independent entity, but merely a personnel department of Samsung Electronics Service."

The statement further claimed, "Samsung Electronics Service claimed that we were employees of their partner companies with nothing to do with Samsung and forced workers to work under harsh labor conditions for wages which did not amount to half of those of the full-time regular workers." The first chairman of the Samsung Electronics Service union elected at the inaugural meeting, Wi Yeong-il said, "We will organize more union members to ensure our rights including our basic labor rights."