The Senate’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) received two constitutional amendment proposals on Friday: one to abolish the 6x1 work schedule and another to expand federal authority over public security. According to Folha de S.Paulo, the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva succeeded in appointing allied senators as rapporteurs, facilitating a vote in the first week of September ahead of the October elections.
Senator Omar Aziz (PSD‑AM) will serve as rapporteur for the 6x1 amendment, while Senator Rogério Carvalho (PT‑SE) will oversee the public security proposal. Senate government leader Teresa Leitão (PT‑PE) said the advances reflect “dialogue institucional e um intenso trabalho de articulação” and that Brazil awaits these measures.
Initially, the government had sought to have CCJ president Otto Alencar (PSD‑BA) act as rapporteur for the 6x1 proposal, but he declined to use that prerogative. Aziz, a centrist ally, was chosen to ease the amendment’s passage without changes relative to the version approved by the Chamber of Deputies in May. Any alteration would send the proposal back to the lower house, delaying promulgation before the election.
Lula has told allies he intends to make the end of the 6x1 schedule a campaign banner. His main opponent, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL‑RJ), opposes the measure and advocates an hourly‑pay regime.
Business groups began defining strategies this week to block the proposal before the vote, noting that a Datafolha poll from March showed 71 % of Brazilians support reducing the 6x1 schedule.
The amendment’s progress followed a rapprochement between Lula and Senate President Davi Alcolumbre (União‑AP), whose relationship had stalled after the Senate rejected Lula’s nominee for attorney‑general, Jorge Messias, to the Supreme Court in April. Alcolumbre had been withholding the government’s agenda, including the critical minerals policy that Lula likens to a “new pre‑salt.” A meeting in early August, encouraged by Lula’s allies, paved the way for the current alignment.
Another meeting between Lula, Alcolumbre and Chamber of Deputies president Hugo Motta (Republicanos‑PB) is scheduled for August 26 to discuss a provisional measure that would end the so‑called “shirt tax” on low‑value international purchases. Officials say the encounter may also produce an agreement to vote on both the 6x1 amendment and the public security PEC in both houses, even if the texts are altered by senators.