Coordinated management of meaning in social dialogues: negotiation strategies of workers in tripartite dialogues on the minimum wage

Workers and employers are two very important forces in the field of economy and market. However, the difference in the interests of the parties demanding for creation of solutions to effective communication in order to balance the interests of workers and employers. One of these solutions is tripartite social dialogues, in which representatives of employers, workers, and government representatives, discuss labor issues, including setting the minimum wage for workers in certain periods of time. In this research, we tried to examine the approaches and strategies of workers in tripartite dialogues with a communicative approach and specifically using the theory of coordinated management of meaning.

In this research, notes and interviews conducted with representatives of workers, in a four-month period from December to March 2016, are examined. This contents were published in specialized publications in the field of labor and welfare. These content have been analyzed using the thematic analysis method as well as the specific analytical method of the theory of coordinated management of meaning.

Data analysis gives us a general view of the social world of the three groups involved in tripartite dialogues, which we have rewritten under the title of a story or narrative, and these stories are the main basis of our analysis. In this section, lived stories, untold stories, unheard stories, and deleted stories are identified.

The results show that the communication and dialogue strategies of the workers do not have the necessary communication facilities to solve their problems. These dialogues are mostly considered as a ritual ceremony that is held annually, and basically the actors of these dialogues have no hope of influencing each other and creating a better social world. The result of social dialogue is the continuation of the current social worlds of workers and continuation of the conflict with the social worlds of employers and government representatives.