Brazil to shorten workweek in win for Lula ahead of runoff

Brazil's Senate approves constitutional amendment to shorten workweek to 40 hours, a move that could benefit President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of the presidential runoff.

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Brazil's Senate has approved a constitutional amendment to reduce the working week from 44 to 40 hours, a move that could affect more than 30 million workers. The amendment, known as the "6x1" reform, bans six-day workweeks, currently worked by 16 million people, and cuts 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. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has championed the amendment, which will give some workers an extra day off each week. Lula celebrated the amendment's passing, writing on social media that "ending the 6x1 schedule is about more than changing working hours. It means more time to live, rest, be with family, watch your children grow up, look after yourself and enjoy life."

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.

However, Senate president Davi Alcolumbre put it to a vote, and the amendment was approved by 75 senators, with only one senator voting against it. Flavio Bolsonaro, the right-wing senator and Lula's opponent in the presidential runoff, initially opposed the legislation but reversed course on Tuesday, saying that he would back the bill because it had so much support.