Senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM), the rapporteur for the constitutional amendment that would end Brazil's so-called 6x1 work schedule, said he plans to present his report to the Senate's Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) on Thursday, August 27. The bill, which had been stalled in the Senate since May, has gained new momentum in recent days amid expectations among government allies that it could advance during Congress's concentrated legislative push next week.
According to G1, Aziz decided to keep the text as approved by the Chamber of Deputies without changes. The choice is strategic: any amendment to the bill's content would force it back to the Chamber for another vote, delaying its progress. The measure would cut the maximum weekly work hours from 44 to 40, replacing the current model in which employees work six days and rest only one with a schedule guaranteeing two paid days off, while keeping current wage levels intact, according to Brazilian outlet Jornal GGN. The 6x1 schedule refers to the common Brazilian shift pattern of six working days followed by a single day of rest.
If approved by the CCJ, the measure moves to the Senate floor, where it needs at least 49 favorable votes across two rounds of voting, since it is a constitutional amendment. Senate rules require a minimum gap of five sessions between the first and second round votes, a timeline the opposition intends to use to try to delay the bill.
Opposition pushback
The presidential campaign team of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) is working to prevent a vote on the 6x1 bill before this year's elections, according to G1. Even so, allies of the candidate acknowledge the measure has a strong chance of passing if it reaches the floor, since opposition senators would find it politically difficult to vote against the measure during the campaign. According to sources close to Senator Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), the opposition leader in the Senate and coordinator of Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign, the strategy will be to publicly defend the importance of the issue while arguing it needs further debate and should not be voted on in the heat of the presidential race.
The PL party had been counting on tensions between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Senate President Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP) to stall the bill, but a recent rapprochement between the two dashed that expectation, G1 reported. On Wednesday, August 26, Lula is scheduled to meet with Alcolumbre and Chamber of Deputies President Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB) to discuss the votes planned for the following week. On social media, Lula has framed the bill as a commitment to Brazilian workers, saying the end of the 6x1 schedule will move forward in Congress without any pay cut.
Speaking to Brazilian outlet UOL, according to Jornal GGN, Aziz pushed back against criticism from the business sector over potential economic damage, arguing that alarmist rhetoric has historically accompanied revisions to Brazil's labor laws. PL deputies themselves voted mostly in favor of the measure when it passed the Chamber of Deputies, a point party members in the Senate now cite as a sign the bill could also pass there.