By IGOR FELIPPE SANTOS
Nothing justifies a worker having just one day to rest and spend time with his family.
The campaign against the 6x1 scale, which imposes six days of work for one day of rest, has gained strength in society and driven a universal agenda for the working class, opening a window for the resumption of the debate on labor relations and shorter working hours.
A online public petition, launched by the movement Life Beyond Work (VAT), has surpassed 2 million signatures. After the approval of the law on the permanent appreciation of the minimum wage policy, sanctioned by President Dilma Rousseff in 2012, this is the first time that an agenda with the character of achieving labor rights has demonstrated popular appeal and strength in the political scene.
During this period, Brazil underwent an offensive by the bourgeoisie, which led to the impeachment of Dilma Roussef in 2016. One of the main objectives was to reduce the cost of labor. The labor reform in 2017, which was quite unfavorable for workers, was a reaction to the fall in unemployment and the increase in the share of wages in GDP, which grew by 4% between 2004 and 2013, returning to the 1995 level.
Since then, the labor rights agenda has been obstructed, including in the debate with society. The ideological offensive to impose the dismantling of the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) promised to “modernize” legislation, reduce bureaucracy and increase the supply of jobs. That was not what happened.
Study by researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP), published in 2022 based on the simulation of comparative scenarios of Brazil with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, pointed out that the reform did not have a statistically significant effect on the unemployment rate. Another neoliberal mystification has fallen.
Now, the support for the campaign to end the 6x1 work shift and reduce working hours is a new fact that sets in motion the fight to defend the rights of the working class. The first sign of the strength of this cause was the election of Rick Azevedo (Psol-RJ), leader of the movement Life Beyond Work (VAT), with an impressive 29 thousand votes for councilor in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
The 30-year-old gained notoriety on social media by denouncing the exploitation he suffered when he worked in retail on a 6x1 scale. From then on, he took on the fight as a central focus, creating the movement Life Beyond Work (VAT) and began to carry out permanent action on social media and in commercial areas in Rio to talk to workers. This is the infamous grassroots work.
Now, it gains new momentum with the repercussion of Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) by federal deputy Erika Hilton (Psol-SP), which proposes to end the 6×1 work schedule by reducing the working week to 36 hours, without changing the maximum daily workload of eight hours and maintaining wages.
A social media campaign is pressuring members of parliament to sign the text so that the PEC can be filed. 171 signatures are needed for the bill to be presented to the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Deputies. After being dormant for months, it has obtained more than 200 signatures in recent days.
Even far-right parliamentarians, such as Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP), Nikolas Ferreiras (PL-MG) and André Fernandes (PL-CE), suffered embarrassment and received criticism for not signing the text of the PEC. How can it be justified that a worker only has one day a week to rest?
The 44-hour, six-day workweek symbolizes the perversity of the exploitation of the working class in the XNUMXst century. There is no justification for a worker having only one day to rest and spend with his family. It is the weak link of the ruling class in the debate on labor relations.
This work regime is common, especially in commerce and retail. In this segment alone, there are more than 19 million workers, who are employed in stores, supermarkets and shopping malls that remain open practically every day.
However, it is not exclusive to commerce. Industries that operate with continuous production (petrochemical, food, pharmaceutical, etc.), health services such as hospitals and clinics, the transport and logistics sector, the hotel and tourism sector, security and surveillance services and even construction require this scale.
The processing of the PEC has several steps and approval depends on the support of at least 3/5 of federal deputies (308) and senators (49). Therefore, it requires an intense mobilization of Brazilian society, with a leading role for the trade union movement and strong support from the working class.
It is also an opportunity for the Lula government to get off the ropes and change the national agenda, given the pressure from financial capital and corporate media to make fiscal adjustments by cutting social benefits. Why not embrace and encourage a fight to reduce working hours that could put its enemies on the defensive?
The fight to end the 6x1 work shift has the potential to reconnect democratic-popular organizations with significant segments of the working class. It is a simple, fair and direct cause that addresses an inhumane practice that exposes the exploitation of the labor market today.
A national movement to end the 6x1 exploitation can mobilize the working class and change the balance of power. Marching to victory can restore workers’ self-esteem and hope in organizing and fighting.
*Igor Felipe Santos is a journalist and political analyst working in social movements.
Originally published on the website Brazil indeed.
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