Federal MPs are backing a new agreement which slashes penalty rates for South Australian retail workers in return for higher base pay.
Opposition frontbencher Mark Butler says the bargaining process used to reach the deal between employers and the shoppies union is what Labor has supported for more than 20 years.
"This is what we envisaged when Paul Keating's government put together the enterprise bargaining model," the SA MP told reporters in Canberra.
Deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek said the agreement was an example of the flexibility in Fair Work laws introduced by Labor in government.
Junior government minister Jamie Briggs said the deal vindicated the coalition's position that penalty rates were a matter for the Fair Work Commission.
"If employers and employees work together for their best interests then we'll get a better result," he said.
Independent SA senator Nick Xenophon says Saturday and Sunday are now regarded as ordinary trading days for the hospitality and retail sectors.
"It's always been my position that there needs to be greater flexibility for small employers," he said.
Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm said Australians who wanted to work weekends had been priced out of the market by penalty rates.
He also described South Australia as an economic basket case.
"Maybe somebody there has finally woken up to the fact that they do need to change if they're going to turn it around."
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