Business leaders seek flexibility to soften end of 6×1 workweek
The statement reveals an impasse, because the government wants the new rule to take effect “immediately.” At the same time, the models proposed by Congressman Leo Prates, the bill’s rapporteur, suggest a transition period ranging from 2 to 5 years. He is expected to present his report on Monday afternoon.
According to the minister, this is the only remaining obstacle preventing a vote on the matter. President Lula is also expected to meet with Speaker Hugo Motta on Monday to discuss the issue and seek a consensus.
Guimarães also acknowledged concern over fiscal “time bombs” moving through Congress. Still, they said he is counting on pressure from mayors to block the measures. One source of concern is a bill under discussion in the Senate regarding rural producers’ debts, which could have a fiscal impact of R$150 billion in 2027.
Rural debt bill could cost R$150bn in 2027
With only two months left before party conventions to complete votes on the government’s legislative priorities, he cited as priorities in the Lower House the constitutional amendment reducing working hours and the bill creating subsidies to contain fuel-price increases.
In the Senate—where dialogue with Senate President Davi Alcolumbre has been frozen after the rejection of Attorney General Jorge Messias for a seat on the Supreme Court—Guimarães said he would like to see approval of the Public Security constitutional amendment and the new legal framework for critical minerals.
Did Alcolumbre repeat Eduardo Cunha’s mistake?
He confirmed that he is working to rebuild Lula’s relationship with Alcolumbre. He emphasized that this is a slow process requiring skill and magnanimity, and urged both men to exercise Christian “forgiveness.”
While referring to the defeat of Messias’s nomination, Guimarães mocked Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, Lula’s leading rival in the presidential race.
“When that vote ended, Flávio said the government was finished,” Guimarães recalled. “Three days later, the government had recovered, and he was the one who collapsed, burying himself in the Banco Master swamp.”
Flávio Bolsonaro admits meeting former Banco Master owner
One week later, Lula met with U.S. President Donald Trump to improve the government’s approval ratings.
Guimarães added that during the campaign, the Workers’ Party would seek to demonstrate that the Banco Master crisis—“the biggest financial scandal in Brazil’s history”—“has eyes, a face, arms, DNA: it is the Bolsonaro family.”
The minister cautioned, however, that Flávio Bolsonaro’s connection to Banco Master does not pave the way automatically for a Lula victory. On the contrary, he said this will be “the most polarized election in history,” though he sees a rise in the government’s approval ratings due to Desenrola 2 and the end of the taxes on small foreign purchases, below $50. Below are the main excerpts from the interview with Valor:
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Valor: You have roughly two months until the party conventions to try to approve Congress’s priority matters for the government. What will your focus be?
José Guimarães: I brought to the ministry an experience of government leadership in relations with Congress, especially the Lower House. If the Senate had already voted on the measures we approved in the House during my time here, we could finish the year and focus solely on the election.
Guimarães: We have approved almost everything [of interest to the government]. Only one matter remains to be voted on in the House: the constitutional amendment ending the six-day workweek.
Valor: Didn’t the government prefer voting on the executive branch’s bill reducing working hours rather than the constitutional amendment?
Guimarães: The focus has shifted away from who leads the initiative. What counts now is the measure’s approval. Both proposals are progressing simultaneously—the constitutional amendment and the bill under constitutional urgency. We think the bill might modify the wording of the amendment. However, negotiations for the amendment are already underway, and we are content with four key issues.
Guimarães: The end of the six-day workweek, the guarantee of two weekly days off, no salary reduction, and collective bargaining. The only pending issue is the transition period.
Valor: And what will the solution be?
Guimarães: We are still discussing it. We are seeking a formula that leaves no doubts about implementation and the immediate effect of ending the six-day workweek. We are speaking with President Lula, and by Monday, we will have a finalized position.
Valor: Which are the main measures approved in the Chamber that are still awaiting Senate approval?
Guimarães: The Public Security constitutional amendment—I was still government leader when that was approved. The critical minerals regulatory policy, which seemed impossible to approve. In fact, most of these measures seemed impossible, such as the anti-gang bill. At this point, we expected the Senate to have already voted on all of them.
Valor: But the rejection of Messias’s nomination to the Supreme Court soured the relationship. What now?
Guimarães: There was that crisis, but we are working to see whether we can at least approve some important measures there, such as the Public Security amendment. If approved, the Ministry of Public Security will be effectively created. Another strategic measure is the Critical Minerals Bill. The regulation we created gives the Brazilian state control over the exploitation and negotiation of this wealth.
Valor: The House has also not completed the analysis of the package intended to contain fuel prices…
Guimarães: But it will vote on it. The provisional measure on fuel should be incorporated into Supplementary Bill 114. The war devastated the European economy, and several others, and Brazil held steady because the government adopted emergency measures. Revenue from crude oil exports will be used as subsidies to prevent Petrobras from raising prices.
Valor: That bill has not yet been voted on, and agribusiness lawmakers want to expand subsidies on gasoline and diesel to ethanol as well. Does the government have a position?
Guimarães: The risk of delaying the vote [on PLP 114] is that Petrobras is under pressure and may have to raise fuel prices. If Petrobras is assured that the surplus will be directed to the company to avoid fuel price increases, that will bring stability. That is why we pushed for the provisional presidential decree with the same content as the bill. The end of the small purchases tax will also move quickly through Congress—there is consensus in the House to eliminate it.
Valor: That tax contributed to Lula’s decline in approval ratings. Didn’t the decision to end it come too late?
Guimarães: Better late than never. It should be noted that this tax was not the government’s initiative, though the idea was that it would help boost revenue. But the impact was tiny. I heard complaints from people saying they could no longer buy a cellphone case, a charger, or a cheap blouse. It was an unpopular measure that generated anger, especially among low-income consumers.
Valor: But the idea was to protect retail jobs hurt by the influx of Chinese products.
Guimarães: Yes, but the fact is that, according to the polls, the effects of the tax were nothing like what was expected. They were minimal and created a climate of instability and anger, especially among low-income consumers.
Valor: You celebrated important votes. But there is also a list of fiscal “time bombs” intended to prevent their advancement. Will you be able to stop them?
Guimarães: On Wednesday [20], President Lula received the 27 state presidents of Brazil’s mayors’ associations, together with the National Confederation of Municipalities, which had just concluded the mayors’ march. One of the points they raised was the fear that Congress could approve constitutional amendments establishing salary floors.
Valor: Did they ask for government help to block them in Congress?
Guimarães: Yes, they appealed to us to help prevent these measures from advancing. Because they not only compromise federal finances, they also affect municipalities. There are several complicated matters.
Valor: Another proposal that could have a major fiscal impact is the bill that increases the revenue ceiling for microentrepreneurs, an important voting bloc for Lula.
Guimarães: Yes, it may be a fair proposal because it raises the exemption threshold from R$81,000 to R$150,000. The impact is enormous. We are speaking with Speaker Hugo Motta and the finance and planning ministers to seek a solution. It can’t be nothing, but it cannot be everything either. Governing requires sensitivity to seek balance in moments like this.
Valor: In the Senate, there is also the issue of rural producers’ debt, which Senator Renan Calheiros is reporting on.
Guimarães: The impact could reach R$150 billion [in 2027]. Our finance minister [Dario Durigan] and planning minister [Bruno Moretti] are making a monumental effort to negotiate with Renan to find a solution.
Valor: You praised the pace of voting in the House and your dialogue with Motta. The atmosphere there is good, but how will you solve the rupture with the Senate president?
Guimarães: We had the episode involving Jorge Messias’s defeat. Relations have become very tense, and my current effort is to resume dialogue. I have spoken frequently with Davi, and the Workers’ Party Senate caucus has as well. My role is to reopen dialogue [between the government and Davi Alcolumbre] so that important measures can be voted on. I believe we will soon rebuild that bridge.
Valor: But doesn’t the news that Lula wants to resubmit Jorge Messias’s name to the Senate create even more friction?
Guimarães: First, there is no government decision, and President Lula has not made any decision on that. There is a lot of speculation, but nothing has been decided. This is a process that needs to be built, a matter that belongs solely to the president of the Republic, and we will still mature that discussion.
Valor: So far, Lula and Alcolumbre have shown no willingness to dialogue. On the contrary, at public events, they barely looked at each other. Will this reconciliation happen?
Guimarães: These things are processes. You cannot rebuild relations without skill, magnanimity, and the ability to forgive excesses and mistakes. I believe their relationship will be restored.
Valor: So you believe the president should forgive Alcolumbre for leading the effort to defeat Messias’s nomination?
Guimarães: Lula may forgive Davi, or Davi may forgive the president. I am Catholic. In my religion, we learn to forgive. I have already forgiven many people who hurt me. I do not want to carry resentment or hatred for anyone for the rest of my life.
Valor: Is voting on bills stalled in the Senate, such as the Public Security amendment, essential to improving Lula’s approval ratings? And what if Alcolumbre does not bring them to the floor?
Guimarães: Life goes on. The most urgent matter to be voted on in the Senate is the regulation of critical mineral exploitation, including rare earths, because it is connected to Lula’s meeting with Donald Trump.
Valor: Is the advance of the constitutional amendment granting autonomy to the Central Bank also seen as a problem?
Guimarães: Yes, and I am completely opposed to it. We have spoken with Senate government leader Jaques Wagner about how to act. The Central Bank raises interest rates however it wants, and nothing justifies the current model of increasing rates. Even so, Brazil has maintained inflation under control, sustained income growth, and respected the fiscal adjustment framework.
Valor: If the economy is doing so well, why is Lula facing such high rejection rates?
Guimarães: Due to social media and Bolsonarism’s illegal tactics, we felt adrift. Lies often swing voters’ opinions, causing candidates to rise or fall. The most shocking part was Bolsonarists trying to blame us for the Master scandal, despite their own deep involvement. It seems that anything is acceptable when voters make their choice.
Valor: Senator Flávio Bolsonaro fell in the polls because of his ties to former banker Daniel Vorcaro. Do you think the PT can already celebrate an electoral victory because of the Banco Master crisis?
Guimarães: I have seen many elections won and then completely reversed at the last minute—Jânio Quadros in São Paulo [in 1985]. Fernando Henrique sat in the mayor’s chair before the election, and then Jânio turned it around and won. There is no such thing as a guaranteed election. Elections are a process, a debate. We will have the most polarized election in the country’s history, and the entire Workers’ Party should approach it that way. What is at stake is whether we move toward consolidating democracy or return to fascism.
Valor: A real problem is Brazilians’ perception that the cost of living has increased. That has generated dissatisfaction. How do you reverse that?
Guimarães: Do you know what the real problem is? Household indebtedness. That is why we launched Desenrola 2, which is fundamental to renegotiating Brazilian families’ debts. The volume of resources already renegotiated is extraordinarily large. That is why these measures, combined with the “BolsoMaster” episode, improved approval ratings for Lula’s government.
Valor: Liberal Party chairman Valdemar Costa Neto told Valor that one strategy will be to compare the Banco Master scandal involving Flávio Bolsonaro with the pension-fraud scandal involving Brazil’s social security agency, and they also intend to explore the investigation involving the president’s son, Fábio Luís Lula da Silva. Does that concern the Workers’ Party?
Guimarães: We will show voters that the fraud at the social security agency began under the Bolsonaro government. It is as simple as that. If there is one thing we are prepared for, it is debating this issue during the campaign. The discussion should not be about who is more or less corrupt. The point is that the Banco Master crisis is the biggest financial scandal in Brazil’s history. Banco Master has eyes, a face, arms, DNA: it is the Bolsonaro family, it is Flávio Bolsonaro.
Valor: We are two months away from the conventions that will formalize the candidates, and Lula still lacks a political base in Minas Gerais, the country’s second-largest electoral college. Isn’t that serious?
Guimarães: Lula is committed to resolving the Minas Gerais issue. But look, something very interesting happened: the Workers’ Party is well organized in the three states where that once seemed impossible—Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Paraná. Gleisi Hoffmann even has a chance to win a Senate seat in Paraná.
Valor: In São Paulo, there is conflict over the formation of former minister Fernando Haddad’s ticket. How will the dispute over Senate slots be resolved?
Guimarães: Haddad is leading in the capital and the metropolitan region. Simone Tebet, Marina Silva, and Márcio França all need to fit well into the ticket. What do I defend? Two Senate candidates, and one will become the running mate. That would be a powerful ticket. We have problems in states such as Paraíba and Pernambuco, where everyone wants to support Lula.
Valor: Could the impasse in Paraíba damage Lula’s relationship with the House speaker, who wants to elect his father, Nabor Wanderley, to the Senate?
Guimarães: Motta wants Lula to support his father for the Senate, but Senator Veneziano Vital do Rêgo and former governor João Azevêdo also want it. We will need a gesture of magnanimity from all sides.
