“The strength of the working class is organization. Without the organization of the masses, the proletariat is nothing. Organized, it is everything.”
— Vladimir Lenin
The Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) in Brazil was enacted in 1943 as a landmark victory for Brazilian workers. It established a 48-hour workweek, paid vacation, protections against arbitrary dismissal, and the right to organize. Despite being a win, it was also a political calculation by President Getúlio Vargas, tainted by a corporatist maneuver that tied unions to the state and limited independent labor organizing. It also excluded rural and domestic workers, deepening a racial disparity that labor legislation never meaningfully addressed. The 1988 Constitution cut the workweek from 48 to 44 hours, the last reduction before this year.
One of the ways labor law held Black and poor workers back was by permitting a workweek distributed across six days, a model known as the 6×1 schedule. It remained the standard for millions of workers in Brazil after the 1988 reduction, disproportionately concentrated in retail, food service, and healthcare.
In September 2023, Rick Azevedo, who then worked as a pharmacy cashier in Rio de Janeiro, published a TikTok about working the 6×1 schedule: “I’m here outraged by the 6×1 schedule. … When are we, the working class, going to make a revolution in this country over the 6×1 schedule? It’s modern, outdated slavery. I keep thinking: I don’t have children, I have nothing, I am alone, I can’t get things done.” As is the case for many Brazilians, Azevedo worked six days a week, from 2:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., and in the mornings sold popsicles at the beach to complement his income, since his full-time job only paid minimum wage. In addition to working these two jobs, Azevedo had attempted to pursue higher education more than once but had been forced to drop out.
When his TikTok went viral, Azevedo had a modest following of 40,000, mostly built around posts about Beyoncé. He had never organized with a union or a political party. After the viral TikTok, he created a WhatsApp group, started connecting with labor lawyers and activists, and within weeks, they created Vida Além do Trabalho, VAT (Life Beyond Work). A public petition for the end of the 6×1 schedule followed shortly after. In May 2024, Federal Deputy Erika Hilton of the Partido Socialismo e Liberdade formally announced a Proposed Constitutional Amendment calling for a four-day workweek, filed in partnership with VAT.
By October 2024, Azevedo won the election for city councilman in Rio de Janeiro as the 12th most voted candidate out of 51 seats. Despite having received less funding than other candidates from his party, PSOL, he was the most voted candidate of the party. He went from a viral TikTok to having an institutional platform that allowed him a voice in the Brazilian Congress.
Within the last two years, the movement never lost momentum, despite the right’s attempts to argue that ending the 6×1 schedule would increase the unemployment rate. That is proven to be a false argument. It is typical of the tyrants of capitalism to threaten the public with fear of economic change. It is encouraging that public support has been overwhelming: a Senate poll on the reduction received 92.6% support and only 7.4% opposition.
On May 27, 2026, the Chamber of Deputies voted to approve a constitutional amendment phasing out the 6×1 schedule, the first reduction to Brazil’s workweek since the Constitution was enacted in 1988. Now, the amendment will go to the Senate, where it is expected to be approved.
In the 83 years since the CLT was enacted, few amendments have carried this much meaning for the Brazilian working class. The end of the 6×1 schedule is not just a labor reform. It is proof that organization works.
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