The minister (Institutional Relations) should receive on Wednesday (12), at Palácio do Planalto, deputy Erika Hilton (PSOL-SP), author of the PEC that reduces working hours to a 6×1 work schedule, in which paid rest only occurs on Sundays.
The text was presented by the parliamentarian in the first half of the year, but has now gained notoriety on social media. Still, the issue is in its infancy in the Chamber of Deputies.
Padilha has not yet publicly spoken out on the topic, but he already supported the discussion at another time in Congress, when he was a deputy.
The government has not yet made a unified decision on the measure. Four ministers spoke, in an uncoordinated manner: Luiz Marinho (Labor), Paulo Pimenta (Secom), Anielle Franco (Racial Equality) and Geraldo Alckmin (Development).
The last three were in favor of discussing the proposal. Pimenta said that, if he were a deputy, he would have signed the PEC, and that it aims to “improve the working conditions and lives of the working class”.
Alckmin, in turn, Anielle, that it is a “legitimate worker’s agenda”.
The minister of labor released a note on Tuesday, contrary to his Esplanada colleagues, in which he argued that the topic should be debated “in collective work conventions and agreements”.
The measure already has the support of more than 130 parliamentarians, but it still needs to reach 171 signatures from the 513 parliamentarians in the House to advance in Congress.
The proposal amends article 7 of the Constitution, which currently limits working hours to 44 hours per week. The change, if approved, will allow shorter working hours and more rest days, as is already the case in other countries. The measure generates debate. For defenders, it can improve workers’ quality of life and increase productivity. Business owners are afraid that labor costs will increase.
The topic, which gained prominence in the VAT (Life Beyond Work) Movement, is also being discussed with government and private sector representatives.
Reducing the working day from 44 hours to 40 hours a week is one of the classic demands of trade unions. Categories such as commerce and services in supermarkets, drugstores and shopping centers, for example, have a 6×1 working day, in which people work from Monday to Saturday, with rest on Sundays.
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