Easter trading laws are back on Parliament's agenda and a union representing retail workers says it has a fight on its hands.
A member's bill drafted by National's Otago MP Jacqui Dean has been carried over from the last Parliament and will be debated in the new year.
She wants to repeal the law that forces shops to close on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, specifically in her Otago electorate.
Margaret Dornan, president of FIRST Union, says retail workers will fight the bill.
"There's a sense of `here we go again' after eight failed attempts in Parliament in recent years to open shops at Easter," she said on Friday.
"If shops are allowed to open on Easter Sunday, workers who are contracted to work on a Sunday would be expected to work."
The union's retail secretary, Maxine Gay, says New Zealand's shopping laws are already among the most deregulated in the world.
"New Zealanders can shop on 361 and a half days a year and on 51 of 52 Sundays," she said.
"Easter is one of the few guaranteed times that retail workers can have off."
Previous attempts to repeal Easter trading laws have failed because governments haven't supported them and they've been defeated on free votes in Parliament.
But the fact that Ms Dean's bill has been carried over - members bills don't have to be - indicates the government is prepared to put it up for debate.
Although the bill is restricted to Otago, if it's passed it would set a precedent for other MPs to follow.
NZN