Labour was built from the working class but lately the party has been identified with issues a long way from shop floors.
Mr Cunliffe was elected Labour leader with strong support from unions and he needed to deliver on promises made to them.
Announcing the party's labour and wage policy, Mr Cunliffe said raising the minimum wage $2 an hour to $16.25, and restoring worker rights, would put around $4000 a year into the pockets of Kiwi wage-earners.
''New Zealand's productivity gains of 50% over the last 20 years have not led to corresponding increases in real wages.''
Forty-six percent of New Zealand wage earners did not receive a pay rise last year, despite the economy growing by about 3%, he said.
Wage-earners helped create economic wealth and it was only fair they shared the benefit.
Other changes Labour would make in its first 100 days of government were.
-Aiming to raise the minimum wage to two-thirds of the average over two terms, as conditions permit.
Ensuring all core public service workers were paid at least the ''living wage'', and extending that as fiscal conditions allow. Abolishing the Government's 90-day dismissal law.
Reviewing health and safety laws and ensuring Worksafe New Zealand is adequately resourced.
Data released earlier this year put the living wage at ''at least'' $18.80 an hour.
Mr Cunliffe's announcement received overwhelming support from the Council of Trade Unions, the Maritime Union, the Service and Food Workers Union, the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union and First Union.
However, BusinessNZ chief executive Phil O'Reilly said the policy was a return to the past.
There would be a return to more collective bargaining, preference for unions and more central direction over employment matters.
The policy was inconsistent with the rest of Labour's talk about skills, business development, growth of small business and growth in the regions, he said.
A return to old-fashioned employment thinking was not compatible with current growth settings that were about nimble businesses, higher-technology development and harmonious workplaces.
''It is no accident industrial and strike action has died down under current policies. Returning to a union-led system would only resurrect the industrial tensions of the past,'' Mr O'Reilly said.
