President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday (24) linked the end of Brazil's "6x1" schedule, in which employees work six days for every one day off, to workers having more time with their families, in a public push for Congress to approve the change before the October elections. The statement came in a post on X, according to Folha de S.Paulo and CNN Brasil.
"Some people act against the interests of Brazil's workers, but our government is mobilized to approve the end of the 6x1 schedule, with no pay cut," Lula wrote. "The working people who keep this country moving deserve more time for leisure, to take care of their health and to watch their children grow. This is about time for the family."
Shorter working hours are a central theme of the reelection campaign of Lula, who is seeking a new term this year, and a priority for unions close to his Workers' Party (PT). According to Folha, allies who spoke to the newspaper see the issue as a way to translate the government's record for voters who do not traditionally back the president. The Planalto palace wants the proposal approved before the October vote, though government interlocutors admitted to CNN Brasil they cannot yet count on that timeline.
Bill unblocked in the Senate after deal with Alcolumbre
The proposal, a constitutional amendment known as PEC 221/2019, passed the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house, on May 27 and then sat for nearly three months in the Senate. During that period, relations between Lula and Senate president Davi Alcolumbre soured after the upper house rejected the nomination of Jorge Messias to the Supreme Court, according to Congresso em Foco. The two resumed talks in the first half of August and met at the presidential residence on the 14th, in a public gesture of rapprochement.
On Friday (21), Alcolumbre sent the text to the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ), where the rapporteur is Senator Omar Aziz, a Lula ally running for governor of Amazonas on the president's coalition. Aziz promised to move the analysis "as fast as possible" and said he intends to keep the main points approved by the deputies.
The Chamber's text cuts the maximum workweek from 44 to 40 hours with no pay cut and guarantees two days of paid weekly rest. The shift would be gradual: hours would drop by two within 60 days of enactment and by two more 12 months later. To pass, the amendment needs at least 49 of 81 Senate votes in two rounds. Any substantive change would send it back to the Chamber of Deputies.