The approval of the proposal that reduces the weekly working day to 40 hours and abolishes the 6×1 scale in the Chamber of Deputies transferred a new political dispute to the Senate. Starting this week, the House will focus on different projects on the topic, while the government and opposition try to influence which of them will have priority in the process.
The scenario places the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP), at the center of the negotiations. It will be up to him, together with party leaders, to define which proposal will move forward first and will serve as a reference for the debate on the new labor rules.
The government offensive gained strength after the broad approval of the PEC sponsored by parliamentarians allied with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), led by deputy Erika Hilton (PSOL-SP).
Behind the scenes, members of Palácio do Planalto believe that the result in the Chamber increased the pressure for the Senate to continue the analysis in the coming weeks.
The expectation of government allies is to complete the process before the July parliamentary recess, although the calendar still depends on the willingness of the Senate leadership to speed up the process.
Three proposals compete for space
In addition to the text recently approved by deputies, senators will have two other alternatives available.
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The main one is PEC 12/2026, filed by opposition parliamentarians. The proposal amends article 7 of the Constitution to allow working hours and schedules to be defined by individual agreement, collective agreement or free contractual negotiation between employer and worker. In practice, according to government parliamentarians, the proposal would create a 7×0 journey.
The text gathered the 36 signatures necessary to process and received majority support from PL senators, including senator and pre-candidate for the Presidency of the Republic Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ).
Behind the scenes, the proposal is interpreted by members of the government base as an attempt to create an alternative to the project approved by the Chamber and reduce the political momentum of the PEC at the end of the 6×1 scale.
The third option is an older proposal presented by senator Paulo Paim (PT-RS). Despite being in progress for longer, the assessment among Senate leaders is that the text faces greater difficulties in gaining priority in the current political context.
The dispute began in the Chamber
The clash between government and opposition had already become evident during the vote in the Chamber of Deputies. PL parliamentarians tried to change the text during the session to return to a previous version that provided for the adoption of a 4×3 scale. The change, according to supporters of the government proposal, would have the effect of restarting part of the process and delaying the sending of the matter to the Senate.
The defeat of the opposition in the Chamber took the debate to a new front in the Senate, where different groups are now trying to influence the final format of the rules on working hours and work schedules.
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Alcolumbre avoids signaling the way
Although the proposal has become one of the main agendas of Congress, Alcolumbre has not yet made a public commitment regarding deadlines or which text should receive priority.
The caution occurs at a time of more distant relations between the senator and the Palácio do Planalto. Attrition increased after the Senate rejected Jorge Messias’ nomination for the Federal Supreme Court.
Even so, members of the government are working to rebuild bridges with the House leadership. One of the main interlocutors in this articulation has been the Minister of the Institutional Relations Secretariat, José Guimarães (PT-CE).
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