Brazil’s Senate approves a shorter workweek

SAO PAULO (AP) — 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 October 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.

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