Brazilian Parliament Approves President Lula's Bill to Reduce Working Hours

The Brazilian parliament approved a reduction in working hours through legislation that leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hopes will win him votes in the second round of the presidential election, after his conservative rival Flavio Bolsonaro led him in the first round.

This reformist measure, promoted by Lula’s government for months, allows many Brazilians to increase their paid weekly rest days from one to two and reduces the weekly working hours from 44 to 40.

Reducing working hours was one of the main slogans in major pro-Lula demonstrations in large Brazilian cities in recent days.

The Senate approved the reform by a margin of 75 votes to one, following its approval by the Chamber of Deputies last May.

Omar Aziz, the bill’s rapporteur in the Senate, said it was “the most important victory for Brazilian workers since the 1988 Constitution.”

Lula, a former unionist, added in a video posted on social media: “I am confident that there will be no reversal of this progress, because it is not a bureaucratic victory, but a movement born in the streets and rooted in the historical aspirations of workers.”

The conservative bloc in parliament had proposed an alternative bill allowing each employee to negotiate directly with their employer regarding weekly working hours, but Flavio Bolsonaro, who described the project as “electoral opportunism,” ultimately supported it in the vote.

In the first round of the presidential election on October 4, Lula received 45 percent of the votes, compared to 47 percent for Jair Bolsonaro, the son of his far-right predecessor.