HILARY HOSIA
For years, complaints have been raised about the mistreatment of young women working in mom and pop stores across Majuro. This dilemma is as old as time.
To understand these repeated issues, we must understand what and who operates most of the mom and pop businesses in Majuro.
Ideally, mom and pop stores are small and independent family-owned businesses. This is the textbook definition of mom and pop stores. Such stores exist all over Ebeye: independent and family-owned.
In Majuro, on the other hand, mom and pop stores are big businesses hiding in plain sight with the guise of small stores spread in multiple locations. The name of the store and its location might be different but the name of the business license holder is the same.
This grey area is accepted and overlooked by Majuro Atoll Local Government, where these stores register for business licenses.
Usually an Asian manager is in charge of collection and daily operations. These managers have a certain quota from each store. These quotas are split between the actual financier and the Marshallese business partners. Most mom and pop stores pay rentals to the Marshallese landowner.
In comparison to Ebeye mom and pop stores, Majuro stores are financially stable because of unlimited store clerks. Ebeye stores are looked after by family members. For Majuro, it’s the willing individual capable of enduring 24hr shifts with tricky pay.
The typical narration with Marshallese women are those of mistreatment and unjust pay after working under duress. Most women complain they are not being paid accordingly because the Asian manager deducts more than the individual “borrowed” from the store. These unwarranted deductions have caused multiple Marshallese women to retaliate in the form of theft during their shifts.
When asked why such drastic deductions are taken, the barely-speaking English manager said the cashier came up short in her money count.
There have been more than six incidents in Uliga alone where cashiers took off with money and merchandise in the middle of their shifts because of such treatment.
The solution for the Asian business network of mom and pop size stores: hire Kiribati nationals. Kiribati women tend to stay in the same workplace given the same conditions and pay troubles that drive Marshallese to quit or retaliate. The Kiribati women show more resilience and loyalty than their Marshallese counterparts despite being in the same work conditions.
There are those few Marshallese women who have gained trust and developed working communication with their Asian managers. These few have developed a sustainable partnership because they know the minute they crack, they will be replaced. They know they are expendable.