Their desperate struggle to survive
SINCE 1971, Yakult Adjummas, have been delivering yoghurt door to door in their bright yellow uniforms with friendly smiles on their faces. Back then, they were the prototype of economically independent, middle-aged women who helped increase the popularity and sales of yoghurt. Today, these Adjummas are still pushing their yellow carts filled with yoghurt, but they must push harder to survive. Yakult Adjummas face difficulty, mainly because of the unfair working conditions and public neglect. The Yonsei Annals will reveal their untold story.
The lives of Yakult Adjummas
Yakult Adjummas are a group of married women, in their early 40s to early 50s, who deliver yoghurt in Korea. Every day, they deliver fresh cups of yoghurt or sell them on the streets. When the Yakult company in Japan hugely succeeded with the Yakult Adjummas' door-to-door delivery service marketing, the company exported the same strategy to the Korean market in 1969. According to the Korea Yakult Co., LTD, these Adjummas, famous for their yellow uniforms, achieved a 400 billion cup sales record in 36 years and 11 months for a single brand.
When taking a closer look into their daily duties, the job is definitely not easy for middle-aged women, despite the smiles on their faces. First, Yakult Adjummas have to work long hours. Usually, the work starts at 5 a.m. because they need to deliver it to offices and schools before they begin, and ends in the late afternoon. The job is very stressful since they are often treated as annoying solicitors, not deliverers. Also, it is exhausting pushing the heavy carts around the neighborhoods. Usually the carts weigh over the 7kg, causing chronic fatigue for the overworked Adjummas.
In addition, there has been a gradual decrease in the sales figure due to the recent economic downturn. The number of delivery customers fell to around 2.38 million, from about 2.59 million at the beginning of 2009. "It is really hard to earn money these days, especially since we only get about 20% (without tax) commission of the yoghurt sales and nothing else," says Mrs. Kim, working in Sunae-dong district for more than 25 years.
The real reason for tears
Yakult Adjummas have remained a popular profession because they are guaranteed no gender discrimination and no age limit. However, this does not mean that Yakult Adjummas have been treated fairly. The bad working conditions have been the same for a long time. The company abuses the fact that Yakult Adjummas are not full-time employees. Strangely, the legal status of Yakult Adjummas is "self-employed", which liberates the company from any obligation of Labor Standards Law. This is why Yakult Adjummas are not guaranteed minimum wage or paid by the hour. Having no base salary, Yakult Adjummas have to push themselves harder, because they only earn a small percentage of what they sell. "We usually earn slightly over ￦1 million, which is not enough money to support a family," says Mrs. Lee, working in Jangan-dong district.
Yakult Adjummas work just like full-time employees, but they are not provided the same benefits, such as industrial accident insurance or national health insurance. "Yakult Adjummas are in a 'blind spot' in terms of legal protection. Even if government policies gradually widen their extent to many jobs in order to protect people's interest and rights, no reporters or assembly members have been trying to salvage Yakult Adjummas' situation. To be honest, these women do not exactly seem to be a matter of concern to the government to regulate the Yakult Company," says Roh Ho-chang (Researcher, Korean Government Legal Service).
Moreover, they are often forced by the company to sell a certain amount of products, especially newly released products. If they cannot sell the given amount, they have to buy the left-over products with their own money. Mrs. Kim said with a sigh, "I am really worried because I have to sell 200 more newly released products. Otherwise, I have to buy it myself." However, these obligations are not easily achieved, especially amid the economic slump these days.
Yakult Adjummas often have to do company-hosted volunteer work, which can be a burden to them. Mrs. Lee says, "As the company assigns us where to go for volunteer work, we have to be there even if we are sick, busy with work, or have personal obligations. Of course, I feel good about helping other people, but it seems ridiculous that volunteering is not 'volunteering'."
Changes that should be made
There are about 13,500 Yakult Adjummas in the nation. According to the statistic report in 2005 of the Ministry of Gender Equality, among the 169,228 women in their 40s and 50s who are working, more than 9% of them are Yakult Adjummas. This means that delivering yoghurt is a typical job for economically challenged, middle aged women. Yakult Adjummas are often neglected by the public and the government as well because they are stay-at-home moms without any particular skills. Moreover, yoghurt delivery is not a particularly necessary job.
However, a law protecting Yakult Adjummas should be enacted as a top priority. The law needs to guarantee basic safety insurance and minimum wage for these women to support their households. Also, they should be allowed to organize a labor union to stand up and protect their interests and rights. These are the basic rights for any type of job, but the Korean government negligently applies the Labor Standard Law, selectively excluding many jobs like Yakult Adjummas. Moreover, the public needs to be more conscious about the mistreatment of the corporations like Korea Yakult Co., LTD. We need to become more interested in the unfair treatment by these companies, and should criticize such unfair protocols. We should take action, as individuals or as a group, to enforce change. As Korea becomes more developed, we have a moral duty to care about other people's right and think about living well together.
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Yakult Adjummas are desperate. They have to earn money to support their families, so they cannot quit, regardless of the unfair treatment. They are confronted with a heavy workload, without any social protection. The status of Yakult Adjummas could be improved by monitoring the law and the company. They are hardworking people who deserve the right to be treated fairly. As a developed nation, Korea needs to ensure that even the non-privileged will be given a chance to live humane and stable lives.