7. Question No. 7—Workplace Relations and SafetyHon SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and SafetyQuestion No. 7—Workplace Relations and Safety7. Hon SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: How many workers have gone on strike so far in 2018 and does he believe it is reasonable for union workers at Air New Zealand to threaten strike action on the 21st 22nd and 23rd of December?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) reports that so far in 2018 there have been 7588 employees reported to have gone on strike. I have no ministerial responsibility for the second part of the question and it is important that as Minister I don't interfere with ongoing negotiations. What I am responsible for is ensuring that the parties have every opportunity to reach a resolution and I have made sure that that is the case. The only people who can actually resolve this are Air New Zealand and the staff they are negotiating with.Hon Scott Simpson: Does he consider it reasonable for engineers at Air New Zealand who have an average income of $115000 and with some 170 of them having incomes in excess—SPEAKER: Order! The member is going to ask the question without unnecessary additions. The member will start again.Hon Scott Simpson: Thank you Mr Speaker. Does he consider it reasonable for engineers at Air New Zealand to use New Zealand families and their Christmas plans as bargaining chips for their higher pay demands?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: Well again I have no real ministerial responsibility for that but what I do say is that I have empathy for the families whose travel plans may be disrupted and I encourage the parties to stay at the table and sort out this dispute.Hon Scott Simpson: Does he agree with the Prime Minister who said earlier this year in response to a question by the Hon Simon Bridges I would encourage the member to have a long conversation with the likes of Air New Zealand where through their framework of working collectively with their employees they have improved productivity … health and safety and they have a high-performance workplace."?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: Yes absolutely and I understand that high-performance engagement has not been used in this dispute—perhaps it should've been.Hon Scott Simpson: What does he say in response to University of Otago Professor Alan Geare who is quoted as saying "the unions would have chosen to strike on these days to inflict maximum damage to the airline."?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: I would say he's entitled to his opinion.Hon Scott Simpson: Has he considered consulting the Rt Hon Jim Bolger for advice on inviting Air New Zealand and union representatives to his office in an attempt to resolve the stand-off?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: No. We have excellent processes for dealing with these disputes. I have spoken with MBIE to make sure that they have made all of those processes available to the parties to this dispute and I encourage them to stay at the table and sort it out.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Why doesn't the Minister ask the former National Party leader who they put on the Air New Zealand board to go and sort this thing out?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: I think the people who are at the table are best positioned to do that.Kieran McAnulty: Does the Minister believe it reasonable for there to have been wildcat strike action on 5 December when members of the National Party caucus abandoned their post at no notice?SPEAKER: The member will now stand withdraw and apologise for a supplementary question he knew was out of order and disorderly.Kieran McAnulty: I withdraw and apologise."