Marinho says the government did its part to put an end to the 6x1 and sees the risk of the issue losing momentum after elections

The Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, states that the government of President Lula (PT) did its part to ensure the bill that ends the 6x1 scale advances in the Senate, but sees the risk of the proposal "sleeping in a drawer" if it is not approved this year.

In an interview with Folha de S.Paulo, Marinho accuses the Senate of having no interest in the topic and says that there was a lack of mobilization of unions and workers for other government projects to take off, such as the regulation of work via app.

"Why didn't the workers mobilize? If the centrals were unable to organize a sufficient pressure process, it is not the responsibility of the government alone", he says. "[If society doesn't mobilize], [the 6x1 project] stays there, sleeping in drawers."

Marinho also criticizes the fiscal vision of the government's economic team, with whom he has already had clashes throughout this term due to differences in the review of spending on benefits such as salary bonuses.

He says that the core inflation target, set at 3% per year by the CMN (National Monetary Council), was "excessively ambitious". The Ministers of Finance and Planning and the President of the Central Bank make up the body.

"I can't set a goal that, to reach it, I have to raise interest rates through the roof. Obviously, my colleagues in the economic area won't agree with that, but I have the right to say my reading," he stated.

For the minister, a fourth Lula term would advance proposals that stalled this year, such as the regulation of work via app. He reaffirms that the president will maintain the real gain for the minimum wage in the event of re-election.

Today, the minimum wage is adjusted based on inflation measured by the INPC (National Consumer Price Index), plus a real gain limited to the framework ceiling of 2.5%. However, the government's economic team is considering reducing this index to 1.5%, which could restrict the space for growth.

"There is no contradiction in talking about fiscal responsibility and talking about a policy of increasing the minimum wage", he says. "I would say that we were [responsible] excessively, because, the way we assumed in 2023, there would be a broader debate on when to reach the so-called zero deficit. I would do it for eight, ten years, and not for 12 months, as was done."

Another labor flag for management is the agenda for the end of the 6x1 scale. The president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), signed, last Tuesday (18), the order forwarding the PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) on the topic to the CCJ (Constitution and Justice Commission). The government is working to vote on the proposal in the first week of September.

Marinho opposes compensation measures for companies, defended by the entities that will be most affected by changes in working hours. There is an effort by the productive sector to include compensation in the Senate text, but the government will try to avoid it. Any change by the Senate to the bill would cause it to return to the Chamber of Deputies and the outcome would be delayed once again.

As Folha de S.Paulo showed, Planalto is arranging for a deputy allied with Lula to take on the role of rapporteur on the 6x1 proposal.

For Luiz Marinho, the profile of Congress affected the progress of labor agendas, marked by a lack of mobilization that is reflected even among parliamentarians from the government base.

"If the profile of the House as a whole was different, including part of the base, [Senate President Davi] Alcolumbre would not have sat [on top of the 6x1 project] all this time", he declares.

In the minister's assessment, the failure of the bill to regulate work through applications, for example, resulted from the fact that congressmen did not want to wear out even the workers. This agenda remains a government promise for Lula's next term.

This year, the text did not advance due to a lack of consensus on aspects such as minimum payment for delivery drivers, changes in life insurance coverage and the lack of direct obligation for platforms to provide support points for workers.

An initial project had come from the Ministry of Labor in 2024, but also faced difficulties. The working group was initially created only with union representatives, who demanded recognition of employment relationships with the platforms. The project did not go ahead and began to be handled only by Congress, in negotiation with the federal government, under the rapporteurship of Augusto Coutinho (Republicanos-PE).

In the government, Minister Guilherme Boulos, from the General Secretariat of the Presidency, was one of the main resisters to the rapporteur's text, especially on the point of minimum remuneration. Marinho avoids criticizing the minister and says that he also defended drivers and delivery people, but states that he would prefer to have approved a law with minimum guarantees.

"[Boulos] neither helped nor hindered. People thought Boulos was guilty because he defended the workers. It was the workers who lost in this," he said. "I would prefer there to be a law that gave minimum guarantees to continue fighting over things that eventually were not resolved. But Congress chose to omit not to face this divergence."

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