Brazil's Senate approves a shorter workweek in major win for Lula ahead of runoff

SAO PAULO -- Brazil’s Senate approved a constitutional amendment Wednesday to reduce the country's maximum workweek from 44 to 40 hours without a salary cut, a move backed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who hopes it will boost his standing against Flávio Bolsonaro in the Oct. 25 presidential runoff.

Lula is expected to sign the shorter workweek into law next week after the measure passed the Senate in two rounds of voting with the same result: 75 to 1 out of 81 members. The sole vote against it came from former Vice President Hamilton Mourao, who served under President Jair Bolsonaro.

Flávio Bolsonaro, who opposed the initiative until early this week, voted for it remotely as he campaigned in southern Brazil. Analysts and politicians say his allies in the Senate stopped blocking the popular move so he wouldn't be hurt in his neck-to-neck race against Lula.

The amendment gives businesses 14 months to adopt the shorter workweek, which was a key sticking point in the negotiations. Many business leaders and lawmakers wanted the changes to be made gradually over 10 years.

The constitutional amendment establishes a 40-hour weekly limit and two rest days without reducing pay. More than 37 million workers could benefit from the new rules, according to the government.

Brazil's president was quick to celebrate the decision.

“Today is a day to celebrate a historic achievement for millions of workers,” Lula said in a statement. “This means having more time to live, rest, be with family, watch your children grow up, take care of yourself, and enjoy life. Those who work so hard to build Brazil also deserve to have time to live.”

Many senators chanted Lula's name after the vote, while Bolsonaro supporters quickly left the chamber.

“Didn't I say this was going to work?” Davi Alcolumbre, the president of Brazil's Senate, told a leading senator of Lula's Workers' Party after the result. He timed the decision to take place between the first and the second round of the election, which benefits the incumbent.

Recent polls indicated widespread support for the measure, despite the opposition of many business owners. Many Bolsonaro allies said in their remarks they see the cost of living going up because of the new schedule.

Brazil's president using government tools to reach out to voters

Lula has taken a number of steps in recent days to shore up support before the runoff, including new fuel tax cuts, the extension of existing subsidies, the pledge to pardon debts of more than 3.6 million small businesses with the federal government, the decision to block signal for cellphones around prisons, and a boost in payments of a welfare program for university students.

The change in the workweek system is regarded as the pinnacle of those initiatives.

Bolsonaro, who bested Lula by 2.2 million votes in the first-round election, reversed his long-standing opposition to the measure on Tuesday. He previously advocated for a more flexible payment-by-the-hour regime, called for individual negotiations between employees and employers and repeatedly called the legislation election-motivated.

Hours after announcing his support for the change, Bolsonaro told business owners that the new Congress, where his party could reach a simple majority with other allied parties come February, could review the measure, local newspaper O Globo reported.

The approval of the reduced workweek was a theme in dozens of pro-Lula protests taking place nationwide since last week. Some celebrated the Senate vote on Wednesday in streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

“We needed the people out on the streets,” said Lunna Normande, 23, during a protest with hundreds of people in Rio. “We will continue to be on the streets until this inhumane work week ends.”

Lula's government has been working on the proposal since last year. “Any change made in an election year can be considered an electoral measure,” said Carla Beni, an economist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a think-tank and university.

People working in the shadow economy, such as freelancers and delivery drivers, will not be affected by the new legislation.

The momentum behind this reform reflects a growing trend across Latin America. Neighboring countries such as Chile and Colombia have recently enacted landmark legislation to shorten their respective workweeks to 40 and 42 hours, which emboldened Brazilian labor groups to seek the same.

In February, Mexican lawmakers approved a proposal by President Claudia Sheinbaum to trim the 48-hour workweek. Working hours will be shortened gradually to a 40-hour workweek by 2030.

Chile in 2023 passed the so-called 40-Hour Law, which reduced its workweek to 40 hours as of last year. It applies to all workers under Chile’s Labor Code, without reducing pay.

But Argentina has bucked that trend under President Javier Milei and may extend its 48-hour workweek.

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Hughes reported from Rio de Janeiro.

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