The Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) that provides for the reduction of working hours from 6×1 to 4×3 will face resistance in Congress. Some parliamentarians from the right and even from Centrão point out that the proposition could cause unemployment and indicate that the measure causes concern.
The author of the proposal is federal deputy Erika Hilton (Psol-SP). The text advocates not only ending the model in which workers only have one day off a week, 6×1, but also adopting the “4-day workday a week” and three days off, that is, the 4×3 design.
To be discussed in the Chamber and Senate, the PEC needed the support of at least 171 signatures from parliamentarians and, to date, at least 200 deputies support the project.
The PEC will begin to be discussed in the Chamber’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ). In the collegiate, a rapporteur will be appointed and only the admissibility of the proposal will be discussed, removing sections that may be unconstitutional. This step, however, must be carried out by the president of the CCJ, deputy Caroline De Toni (PL-SC). PL, the deputy’s party, opposes the PEC. Of the 194 subscribers, only one parliamentarian from the party – Fernando Rodolfo (PL-PE) – signed Erika Hilton’s proposal.
According to deputy Zé Trovão (PL-SC), it is necessary to think about the impact that changing the working day would have on Brazil, for those who produce and those who create jobs. “It’s the “lacrolândia” gang! It’s the boys and girls who want to look good for their voters and listeners, and this is destroying Brazil”, criticized the deputy.
For federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG), in addition to proposing an unrealistic solution that does not consider market rules, the PEC also contains a “bizarre” error, as it proposes a working day of up to eight hours a day, over four days per week – which is equivalent to a total of 32 hours per week. However, the PEC text speaks of a working day that does not exceed 36 hours per week.
PEC depends on Centrão’s adherence to the text; Motta says that the PEC text “is very worrying”
In addition to resistance within opposition parties, the PEC presented by Erika Hilton is viewed with skepticism by members of Centrão. The assessment among leaders of this group is that, despite the minimum number of signatures, the text is unlikely to gain traction this year.
Tipped to take over the CCJ from next year, the leader of União Brasil in the Chamber, Elmar Nascimento (BA), indicated during a party bench meeting that the issue will not be a priority within the House. The expectation among members of this wing is that the subject will also lose space on social media in the coming weeks.
The favorite candidate to assume the presidency of the Chamber from next year, deputy Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB) said that the text of the PEC “is very worrying”. “It worries me a lot, for example, this PEC that has now been recently presented, this [contra a jornada] 6 to 1, where a real movement was created on social media in favor of the PEC”, he said in a conversation with businesspeople at a lunch at the Parliamentary Entrepreneurship Front (FPE).
According to Motta, it is necessary to invite not only workers to the debate, but also for employers to be heard about the impacts of the proposal. “We also have to listen to those who employ, we have to listen to both sides, so that from then on we do not have the advancement of an agenda that could be more harmful to the country”, he said.
In addition to the Chamber’s CCJ, the PEC still needs to go through a Special Committee, where the rapporteur will be able to modify the project through a substitute, in addition to accepting suggestions from other federal deputies. From then on, the project would be able to go to the House plenary, where it would still have to go through two rounds of voting.
The quorum required for the approval of PECs in the Chamber is 308 favorable votes among the 513 federal deputies. If approved by the Chamber, the text passes to the Senate, where approval in plenary requires a favorable vote from 49 senators among the 81 members of the House.
Despite this, Erika Hilton indicated that she intends to speak directly with the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), to discuss the PEC. The deputy has not yet publicly commented on the processing of the proposal.
“I hope that, after talking to Minister Padilha [Relações Institucionais do governo Lula]we can also talk to Arthur Lira to gain strength and consensus”, said the parliamentarian.
Government remains on the fence in discussing the issue in Congress
At the same time, the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) has remained distant from the discussions. The PT bench, for example, only adhered to Congresswoman Erika Hilton’s text after the mobilization of social media in recent days.
According to interlocutors, the government does not intend to “go headlong” into the issue because it has not yet spoken to the business community on the subject. The assessment among Lula’s assistants is that, in the current configuration of Congress, this agenda has close to zero chance of prospering.
However, as they believe that the PEC has the potential to place the opposition in the uncomfortable role of blocking a project that, in principle, would benefit workers. Government leader in the Chamber, deputy José Guimarães (PT-CE) stated that this is not an ideological issue.
“This change is essential to align Brazil with global trends towards more flexible work, promoting a better quality of life for workers and their families, in addition to generating more jobs”, he stated.
The vice-president of the Republic, Geraldo Alckmin, stated that reducing working hours is a “trend throughout the world” due to technological advancement and that “it is up to society and Congress to debate the issue”.
According to Erika Hilton, from now on she intends to personally seek out President Lula to try to expand support within the government.
“We hope to be able to dialogue with the government to understand what the government’s next steps are, how we can unify forces. We just want to strengthen and refine this relationship with the Planalto palace”, said the deputy.
