The president of the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Chamber of Deputies stated that the eventual presentation, by the government, of a bill on the end of the 6×1 scale should not alter the progress of the proposed amendment to the Constitution (PEC) that deals with the topic and has already been processed by the collegiate since last year.
— We will follow the same procedures. Wait until it arrives and see. We will follow the same rhythm — said deputy Leur Lomanto Júnior (União Brasil-BA) to GLOBO.
According to him, the commission must also maintain the already planned schedule of public hearings and votes on the topic.
The PEC under discussion at the CCJ proposes the reduction of working hours and the end of the 6×1 scale, a model in which the worker works six days a week for one rest day. The agenda has strong popular appeal and gains even more relevance amid the electoral calendar.
According to a Datafolha survey in March, 71% of Brazilians support the change.
Despite popular support, the topic faces resistance, especially in the productive sector. Representatives from industry, commerce and agriculture are concerned about possible impacts on companies’ productivity and profits if the proposal moves forward.
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In light of the controversy, the CCJ scheduled a public hearing with confederations of these sectors for this week to discuss the effects of the measure.
Currently, the proposal is still in the initial processing phase. The CCJ is responsible for analyzing the constitutionality of matters and is usually the first step in the legislative journey before analyzing the merits in other committees or in the plenary.
The President of the Chamber himself, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), has already signaled caution regarding the topic. According to him, the country needs to understand how to “absorb” a possible reduction in working hours before moving forward with the proposal.
The possibility of the government sending a new bill to address the issue is not unprecedented, but it had lost momentum in recent weeks. The strategy could speed up processing, especially if the text was sent with an urgent request.
Still, members of the government itself demonstrated resistance to the idea. The Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, stated at the beginning of March that he saw no need to send a new proposal at this time.
“There is no need for the government to send another PL, especially because there are other projects being processed in the House. It will obviously depend on a dialogue with President Hugo Motta, and we are talking, to find out the intention to move these projects forward”, said the minister during a hearing at the CCJ.
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Even with the parallel discussions, the signal from the commission’s presidency is that the PEC will follow its normal course, maintaining the planned calendar, regardless of new initiatives from the Executive.
