Senate Plenary discusses proposal on the end of the 6x1 scale

As soon as he arrived at the Senate, President Davi Alcolumbre, from União Brasil, stated that the two rounds of the PEC would be voted on this Wednesday (14). As the proposal changes the Constitution, at least two votes are required with the support of at least 49 of the 81 senators. When opening the fifth and final discussion session of the proposal, Alcolumbre defended dialogue.

"The 44-hour working week has been in force since the 1988 Constitution and no longer reflects the reality of the world of work, profoundly transformed by technology, automation, new standards and new forms of productive organization. This PEC reduces the working day to 40 hours and guarantees two days of rest per week, without salary reduction. The reduction in working hours is a measure to protect the worker's physical and mental health, to value family life and to encourage productivity, because the rested worker produces more and produces better."

"When an issue of national interest becomes a platform dispute, Brazil loses. It loses because the debate stops being about what is best for the country and becomes about what yields the most votes. It loses because the voter is confused, receives half the truth from one side and half the truth from the other and, in the end, no longer knows who to believe. And it loses because serious decisions start to be taken by the election clock and not by people's needs. This needs to end. The Brazilian worker is not electoral currency."

The PEC was approved in the Chamber in May 2026 and in the Senate Constitution and Justice Committee in early September. The process was only released in the Senate after the rapprochement between the President of the House, Davi Alcolumbre, and President Lula, in August.

The proposal foresees a reduction in the weekly working hours to 40 hours, with two days of rest, one of them preferably on Sundays, and without a reduction in salary. Two months after the publication of the amendment, two days off per week would become valid, and the working day would fall from the current 44 to 42 hours. And, a year later, a further reduction of two hours, reaching 40 hours a week.

"The session began at around 4:30 pm and continues here in the Senate plenary. When the discussion ends, the senators will vote on the PEC in the first round. Remembering that, as the proposal changes the Constitution, two votes are necessary with the support of at least 49 senators in each of them. Once approved in the first round, the senators will begin to discuss the request presented by the government leader in the Senate, Senator Teresa Leitão, from PT. The request aims to shorten, accelerate the discussion. Thus, the vote in the second round would be held today, right after the vote in the first round. Well, if approved in the first and second rounds, the PEC approved in the first and second rounds would then be promulgated by the National Congress", said reporter Zileide Silva.