Brazil's Senate approves a shorter workweek in major win for Lula ahead of runoff

SAO PAULO -- Brazil’s Senate approved a constitutional amendment Wednesday to reduce the country's maximum workweek from 44 to 40 hours without a salary cut, a move backed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who hopes it will boost his standing against Flávio Bolsonaro in the Oct. 25 presidential runoff.Lula is expected to sign the shorter workweek into law next week after the measure passed the Senate in two rounds of voting with the same result: 75 to 1 out of 81 members. The sole vote against it came from former Vice President Hamilton Mourao, who served under President Jair Bolsonaro. Flávio Bolsonaro, who opposed the initiative until early this week, voted for it remotely as he campaigned in southern Brazil. Analysts and politicians say his allies in the Senate stopped blocking the popular move so he wouldn't be hurt in his neck-to-neck race against Lula.The amendment gives businesses 14 months to adopt the shorter workweek, which was a key sticking point in the negotiations. Many business leaders and lawmakers wanted the changes to be made gradually over 10 years.The constitutional amendment establishes a 40-hour weekly limit and two rest days without reducing pay. More t...