The presidential campaign of senator Flavio Bolsonaro (PL) has mobilized allies in Brazil's Senate to delay the vote on a constitutional amendment (known as a PEC) that would end the 6x1 work schedule, six days on and one day off, newspaper O Globo reports. The push began after Senate president Davi Alcolumbre signaled he may bring the proposal to a vote. The measure is a campaign banner for president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wants it approved before October's election.
According to O Globo, the effort is led by senator Rogerio Marinho (PL-RN), coordinator of Flavio's campaign. During Congress's first concentrated voting week in August, Marinho sought a deal with Alcolumbre to keep the PEC off the agenda during the electoral period. The strategy suffered a setback when Alcolumbre met Lula that same week, committed to unblocking the proposal and sent it to the Senate's Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ), where senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM), a government ally, will be rapporteur.
The newspaper reports that the opposition plans to use procedural requests for extra review time and amendments to run out the clock and stop the text from clearing the committee and the floor during the last concentrated voting week, set to start on August 31. Even government allies, including CCJ chairman Otto Alencar (PSD-BA) and Aziz himself, say the outcome is uncertain and there is no guarantee of a deal to vote before the election. Aziz says he will present his report during the voting week, but party leaders will decide the date.
Approved by the Chamber of Deputies on May 27, the amendment cuts the maximum workweek to 40 hours and guarantees two paid rest days with no pay reduction, according to the Senate's news agency. The transition is gradual: 60 days after promulgation the workweek drops to 42 hours, and after 12 months it settles at 40. To pass, the text needs at least 49 votes in the Senate floor, in two rounds of voting.
Marinho has filed an alternative amendment that would let workers choose between the traditional labor-code regime and a model based on hours actually worked, negotiated individually or collectively. Alencar said he will not appoint a rapporteur for it, though parts could be folded into the main text if there is a deal. Publicly, Flavio's campaign avoids attacking the measure itself and argues the debate should happen outside the electoral period. "Lula is desperate, his government was a disaster," said congressman Alfredo Gaspar, Flavio's running mate, who voted for the PEC in the lower house. Daniella Marques, of the candidate's economic team, called the discussion "a populist debate" at a business event on Friday.
On the other side, news site g1 reports that Lula meets on Wednesday (26) with Alcolumbre and Chamber speaker Hugo Motta to unblock bills with potential electoral impact, including the 6x1 amendment, a public security amendment, a critical minerals bill and the provisional measure that scrapped the import tax on low-value online purchases.