Brazil's Lula to launch final reelection bid in Sao Bernardo do Campo on Sunday
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Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will launch his final reelection campaign on Sunday from the May 1 stadium in Sao Bernardo do Campo. Ahead of October's vote, his Workers Party is backing a shorter work week and proposing new protections for app-based workers. Resistance from companies has mostly sunk those efforts, while millions of mostly young, male app workers appear skeptical of government intervention.
Key Facts
- The Workers Party proposes regulations covering pay, working conditions, social security benefits and platform algorithms for app-based workers ahead of October's vote.
- The share of workers holding formal jobs fell to 38.2% in December from 46.7% at the end of 2010, while unemployment ended 2025 at a record-low 5.1%.
- In 1979, Lula addressed about 60,000 striking metalworkers at the May 1 stadium in Sao Bernardo do Campo without a sound system.
- Lula said after losses in 2024 city elections that the party needs to adapt its message to a world of work not limited to formal, registered employment.
Campaign Launch
Lula will launch his final reelection campaign on Sunday from the May 1 stadium in Sao Bernardo do Campo, a former factory city on Sao Paulo's industrial outskirts. The venue is a tribute to the labor movement that propelled Lula from factory worker to Brazil's first working-class president. In 1979, Lula stood on a table at the stadium to address about 60,000 striking metalworkers without a sound system. Nearly five decades later, Lula is grappling with how to rally a new generation of digital app-based gig workers with little connection to the unions and factory floors that once formed the backbone of his Workers Party.
Worker Protections
The Workers Party is backing a shorter work week and proposing new protections for app-based workers, including regulations covering pay, working conditions, social security benefits and platform algorithms. Resistance from companies has mostly sunk these efforts so far, and millions of mostly young, male app workers seem skeptical of government intervention. Lula's main right-wing rival, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, stands ready to court that constituency. Lula said after his government suffered losses in major city elections in 2024 that the party needs to adapt its message to the world of work that is not limited to formal, registered employment.
Gig Economy Shift
The share of workers who held formal jobs fell to 38.2% in December from 46.7% at the end of 2010, even as unemployment ended 2025 at a record-low 5.1%. Darlan Almeida, 27, had a formal job but now makes more delivering for apps on his motorcycle in Sao Bernardo do Campo, where his Lula-supporting father worked in a factory. Almeida, who identifies as apolitical, says the government's efforts misunderstand what workers like him need. He said the authorities should spend a day with workers on the streets.
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Brazil's Lula to launch final reelection bid in Sao Bernardo do Campo on Sunday
