One of Labour's flagship worker policies has passed in a fiery debate in front of a gallery packed with jubilant unionists, marking one of the most significant shifts in employment relations in decades.

But it was not without contention, as National and Act vehemently opposed the Fair Pay Agreements Bill they likened to "compulsory unionism" and vowed to repeal it.

Opposition MPs fought tooth and nail to slow its passage - their sole tool with a Labour majority - drawing out the committee stage over 13 hours, as impassioned speeches from each side were consistently interrupted in a heated fashion.

In the end the law, which will make it easier for workers to band together to negotiate wages and working conditions, became reality as hundreds in gallery erupted into the waiata Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi.

Earlier the gallery energy threatened to boil over, attendees twice having to be warned by Second Assistant Speaker Jacqui Dean to keep their silence until the debate ended when they could "applaud as wildly as you care".

Workplace Relations Minister Michael Wood said the bill was a step towards reversing the "radical deregulation of the labour market" 30 years ago when a then-National government stripped back collective worker rights through the Employment Contracts Act.

At the time National MPs claimed productivity and wages would improve, which Wood said had not eventuated.

Make a beeline for the Beehive

"The promises that they made in that funk of deregulation, that they still...

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