By Lisandra Paraguassu and Victoria Pacheco
SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launches his final reelection campaign on Sunday from a storied stadium where he stood on a table to address some 60,000 striking metalworkers in 1979 without a sound system.
The homecoming in the "May 1" stadium in Sao Bernardo do Campo, a once-thriving factory city on Sao Paulo's industrial outskirts, is a tribute to the labor movement that eventually propelled Lula from factory worker to Brazil's first working-class president.
Nearly five decades later, however, 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 (PT).
"There has been a substantial change in the world of work," Lula said after his government suffered losses in major city elections in 2024. "We need to adapt our message to the world of work that is not limited to formal, registered employment."
Ahead of October's vote, the PT is trying to do that by 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 efforts so far, and millions of mostly young, male app workers seem skeptical of government intervention — a constituency Lula's main right-wing rival, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, stands ready to court.
THE GIG ECONOMY
At the heart of Lula's dilemma is a surge in jobs outside Brazil's system of formal employment, which provides workers with a raft of labor rights and social-security benefits.
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, however, identifies as apolitical and says the government's efforts misunderstand what workers like him need.
"They don't know what we need or how we work. They should spend a day with us on the streets," Almeida said.
Almeida is one of the 2.1 million Brazilians working through digital platforms, a workforce that grew 170% between 2015 and 2025, according to a central bank estimate using survey data from Brazil's statistics agency.
Uber driver Eduardo Marini, 51, complains of his working conditions but says the job's flexibility outweighs the benefits of formal employment and he fears government regulation could limit his autonomy.
Opportunities on digital platforms and fears of government meddling have pushed workers to right-wing politicians who favor lighter regulation, said Oswaldo Amaral, a public opinion researcher at the University of Campinas.
"The prevailing perception is that the state only gets in the way and collects taxes," Amaral said.
Marini said he is on the right, as do 40% of platform workers, according to a 2023 survey paid for by Uber and Brazilian partner iFood. Another 40% of workers said they were centrist, while just 20% identified with the left.
IDENTITY CRISIS
Lula sought to regulate app-based work in 2024, but the efforts faltered as major tech companies pushed back and worker distrust mounted. His government is trying again this year, but a new bill has stalled in Congress.
The challenges reflect a party rooted in labor organizing struggling to keep pace with workers increasingly detached from unions and traditional employment structures.
Brazil's unionization rate has nearly halved over the past decade, falling to 8.9% in 2024 from 15.7% in 2014, according to the latest official data.
Marco Teixeira, a political science professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, said the Workers Party lacks a clear message for app-based workers without an identifiable boss.
The party's president, Edinho Silva, has welcomed some soul-searching. He said unions and left-wing groups need to better understand informal workers and their working conditions.
"They aren't talking to them, they aren't organizing them, and they aren't present in their daily lives."
HELP WANTED
After seven years driving for Uber, Rogerio do Santo, 43, is searching for a formal job again. He says low fares have eroded earnings, while the lack of organized representation leaves drivers with little leverage to press for better terms.
"We don't have anyone from our sector to represent us and seek improvements or benefits on our behalf," he said.
His complaints hint at the PT's path back to workers like him. Many informal workers reject the labels of employee or union member but still want more protections.
A survey commissioned by the PT in 2025 found that 65% of informal workers aspire to be entrepreneurs and just 27.5% prefer a formal job. Yet 56% said protections like sick pay, injury benefits and a minimum wage remain "very important."
Respondents were mixed about collective organizing: Nearly 40% said having their own union would be beneficial, but the same share said they would not join one.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Additional reporting by Victoria Pacheco; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle, Brad Haynes and Nia Williams)
