The first proposal sent by companies in the airline sector for the collective agreement that will define what the working hours of airline workers (ground staff, such as aircraft mechanics and call center attendants) will be like under the 5x2 scale did not please the representatives of the category.
The main point of disagreement between the two unions is related to the days off provided for in the constitutional amendment that changed the working hours rules for Brazilian workers and established the end of the 6x1 scale.
According to the SNA, the employers' union proposed allowing weeks with up to six consecutive days of work (as on the 6x1 scale), as long as the average for the month is two days off per week. In practice, in some weeks, the worker could only have one day of rest, and the other day off would be compensated in another week of the month.
"All unions are willing to negotiate, but maintaining some minimum parameters. 5x2 has no negotiation. It was a workers' fight; giving up on complying with the 5x2 scale doesn't make sense", says Álvaro Quintão, lawyer for the SNA (National Union of Airline Workers), to the report.
Azul, Gol and Abear (Brazilian Association of Airlines) said they will not comment on the issue. Latam stated that it would speak out through the SNEA (National Union of Aviation Companies).
Quintão states that there is still negotiation ahead this month. The next meeting is scheduled for November 12th. The base date of the agreement is December 1st.
In the last negotiation, in 2025, an impasse between the unions resulted in a collective dispute in the TST (Superior Labor Court), and the agreement was approved by the court only in February of this year.
The convention determined that the maximum duration of work for airline workers should be 42 hours per week. According to the agreement, companies should strive to ensure that airline workers on a rotating basis work in a 5x1 model.
On the 5x1 scale, airline workers work five consecutive days and take one day off, which reduces continuous working time compared to the most common model until then (the 6x1 scale).
The challenge now is to get two days off a week, according to Quintão.
The lawyer states that the companies' initial proposal discussed in the current salary campaign includes changing the limit of six hours per day to 36 hours per week, with days of up to 8 hours and no overtime after the sixth hour of work. In this way, the worker's time at the airport can exceed nine hours, as the working hours are added to the hour break, according to the entity.
According to the SNA, the companies also propose to allow changes to the scale due to operational needs, without minimum notice, with mandatory compliance and without additional payment. This would occur, for example, if an employee was absent.
Today, the scale is communicated five days in advance and, if the company fails to comply with the rule, the employee is not obliged to follow the changed scale, says the union.
Abesata (Brazilian Association of Auxiliary Services Companies for Air Transport) released a letter to the market this week in which it estimates a 23.9% increase in costs for companies in the sector with the end of the 6x1 scale.
The entity told Folha that the increase in costs would represent an annual impact of R$1.2 billion for the companies, considering the 45 thousand workers currently employed. The amount is related, for example, to the adequacy of scales and the expansion of teams.
For Abesata, it is urgent to begin negotiations with contractors to restore these values and allow the preparation of operations in a timely manner. The reduced working hours come into force from December 16th, without a salary reduction, in accordance with the transition period provided for by law.
The president of Abesata, Ricardo Miguel, states that the proximity of the beginning of the constitutional amendment's validity to the end of the year, one of the busiest periods for air transport, could bring difficulties in maintaining services.
"We are talking about an essential activity, which operates every day, including at night, on weekends and holidays. It is not enough to open vacancies: you need to find people, train them and meet the requirements so that they can work in an airport environment. Doing all this in a short period of time, just before the high season, is a challenge of great proportions", wrote Miguel in a note to journalists.
For Álvaro Quintão, from SNA, airline companies are making a speech of pressure against the implementation of the new journey.
"But the workers, from what we're seeing so far, are not very willing to be flexible. It was a historic achievement. Whatever the proposal, if it doesn't guarantee 5x2, I don't see much room for the workers to approve it."
