Brazil's Flavio Bolsonaro reverses course, backs end to six — day workweek

By Fernando Cardoso SAO PAULO, Oct 13 (Reuters) — Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro on Tuesday said he would back a popular labor reform to reduce the country's workweek, reversing his position in a bid to avoid handing a political win to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, his leftist opponent in Brazil's presidential elections. The measure, approved by Brazil's lower house in May as a constitutional amendment, would lower working hours in Latin America's largest economy to 40 hours a week from 44, effectively ending a common practice in some sectors, like retail, of requiring employees to work six days a week. Bolsonaro, the son of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, defied pollsters at the start of the month to lead President Lula in the first round of Brazil's election by securing 47% of votes cast. The two men will face each other in a runoff on October 25. Cutting the workweek would mark the biggest overhaul in Brazilian labor rights in decades and a nationwide poll conducted by Quaest in July found nearly 70% of Brazilians support the change. While the senator and his Liberal Party, PL, had long opposed cutting the workweek, arguing the move was designed to boost L