Brazil’s Congress has approved a constitutional amendment cutting the working week from 44 to 40 hours. It also guarantees employees two days off each week without a reduction in pay and is estimated to benefit more than 30 million workers.
The lower house passed the measure in May, and senators backed it on Wednesday by 75 votes to one. Trade unions had held rallies in its favour, while a nationwide survey found that almost 70% of Brazilians supported the change.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva championed the amendment ahead of the 25 October presidential run-off. His supporters hope it will help him gain ground on Flávio Bolsonaro, who led the first round with 47% of the vote to Lula’s 45.2%.
Bolsonaro, a senator who had previously opposed the proposal, voted for it. He said its popularity had changed his mind. The amendment is described as Brazil’s biggest overhaul of workers’ rights since the country’s return to democracy in 1988.
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