Time and work: a historiographical narrative of the debate on working hours in the 1987-88 National Constituent Assembly

In this article, I problematize the debates on working hours in the Subcommission on Workers' and Civil Servants' Rights (VII-A) and the Social Order Commission (VII) during the Brazilian 1987-88 National Constituent Assembly (ANC). After presenting a review of the literature on the subject, I formulate a historiographical narrative of the process, showing that, while the constituents linked to the trade union movement advocated reducing the weekly working day to 40 hours, the representatives of the business community were firm in maintaining the 48 hours in force at the time. However, as I point out throughout the article, the strategies of these agents have changed. In conclusion, I return to the results of the investigation and put forward hypotheses for future research on the subject.

Keywords:
Working Hours; Brazilian 1987-88 National Constituent Assembly; History of Law