Brazil cuts work week to 40 hours in win for Lula ahead of runoff

Senators celebrate the approval of a constitutional amendment bill that would end shorten the workweek in Brazil. Photograph: André Borges/EPAView image in fullscreenSenators celebrate the approval of a constitutional amendment bill that would end shorten the workweek in Brazil.

Photograph: André Borges/EPABrazilBrazil cuts work week to 40 hours in win for Lula ahead of runoffCongress approves constitutional amendment that bans six-day workweeks, which could effect up to 30 million.

Preferir o Guardian no Google O Congresso do Brasil aprovou uma emenda constitucional para reduzir a semana de trabalho a no máximo 40 horas, uma medida que pode afetar 30 milhões de trabalhadores e que entregará uma vitória política ao presidente de esquerda Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva antes da segunda volta presidencial em menos de duas semanas.

In an attempt to overturn the first-round lead secured by his opponent, far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro, Lula has strongly championed the amendment, which will give some workers an extra day off each week.

Bolsonaro, by contrast, spent months opposing the change but reversed course on Tuesday, saying “the majority of Brazilian workers” supported it. On Wednesday, he joined 75 senators who approved the reform, which passed the lower house in May.

Read moreOnly one senator voted against it: Hamilton Mourão, former vice-president to Jair Bolsonaro, Flávio’s father.

The constitutional amendment bans six-day workweeks, currently worked by 16 million people, while cutting the maximum workweek from 44 to 40 hours for more than 30 million workers.

The change is expected to affect mainly workers in retail, restaurants and hotels, most of them low-paid – one of the groups which Lula lost the most support from since the 2022 election, when he defeated Jair Bolsonaro.

View image in fullscreenBrazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Photograph: Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty ImagesLula celebrated the amendment’s passing, writing on social media “ending the 6x1 schedule is about more than changing working hours.

Victor Escobar, pesquisador do Laboratório de Partidos, Eleições e Política Comparada, disse que a mudança “poderia de fato beneficiar a campanha de reeleição de Lula”.

The proposal began as a TikTok movement called Life Beyond Work, founded by a pharmacy assistant who entered politics after its success and later was embraced by Lula.

His party spent months pushing the senate to put the proposal to a vote and many believed that after the far right’s sweeping victory last week secured a broad congressional majority in 2027, the Senate would no longer vote on it.

Mas o presidente do Senado, Davi Alcolumbre, cujo relacionamento com Lula tem sido às vezes conturbado, colocou em votação.

Flávio Bolsonaro’s party had considered blocking it, but polls showed the change had more than 70% of the general population behind it, and more than half of the senator’s voters.

Em maio, Bolsonaro disse que a proposta poderia causar “desemprego em massa”, um argumento que as associações patronais, que se opõem à mudança, têm repetidamente usado.

The senator voted remotely while campaigning in the country’s south.

Mesmo depois de mudar de posição, Bolsonaro disse na terça-feira que “apoia algo ainda melhor”, referindo‑se a uma proposta alternativa que ele defendia há muito tempo, na qual o pagamento seria baseado nas horas realmente trabalhadas.

The Folha newspaper reported that he told business leaders that, if elected, he would review parts of the new amendment, a point several allied senators also made during Wednesday’s vote.

View image in fullscreenBrazil’s right-wing Senator and presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro delivers a speech on Wednesday. Photograph: Sílvio Ávila/AFP/Getty ImagesDespite its approval, none of the changes will take effect before the runoff on 25 October.

After the Senate president promulgates it, a 60-day period will follow before six-day workweeks are abolished and the maximum working week is reduced from 44 to 42 hours, then to 40 hours after a further 14 months.

However, Escobar believes its approval could already benefit Lula: “It will speak to how voters feel economically when they cast their ballot; they can feel more relieved with a change in their working schedule”.

Marilane Oliveira Teixeira, professora e pesquisadora do centro de estudos da Universidade de Campinas, que passou meses examinando os possíveis impactos da mudança, disse que não faltava evidências que mostrassem o quão prejudicial é ter apenas um dia de folga para os trabalhadores.

Lilian Cristo dos Santos, 50, has only one day off from her job as a saleswoman at a home appliances shop in Salvador, Bahia. “There’s no time to go to the doctor, to the beach, to the salon, to look after myself; I wanted to have time to study and I can’t.

Santos said she voted for Lula, but has colleagues who chose Bolsonaro. “They say he represents change – well, yes, but certainly for the worse.”.

Escobar is among many political scientists who believe that, despite Bolsonaro’s lead, Lula has gained momentum not only from the change to the working schedule, but also from demonstrations by his supporters that have drawn thousands across the country and an effort to build a stronger presence on social media.

Lula also continued announcing benefits just days before the vote, including debt relief for microentrepreneurs, and published a letter to evangelical Christians – who have historically favoured Bolsonaro – stressing his commitment “to ensuring that everyone has two days off a week, because life is not just about work”.

Escobar disse: “Embora a maioria das pessoas já tenha decidido seu voto, há alguns que são mais receptivos a movimentos políticos, e Lula tem tentado muito fortemente alcançá-los.”.

The race still looks somewhat tangled, tied, with some degree of advantage for Bolsonaro, but it is still a very open election.”.