Flávio Bolsonaro said he would support legislation to shorten Brazil’s workweek, reversing course on a key proposal from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ahead of this month’s runoff election.

Brazil’s Senate is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a constitutional amendment to reduce weekly working hours, a proposal Lula has put at the center of his efforts to rebound from an unexpected first round result that turned Bolsonaro into the favorite to win the presidency.

The leftist leader has ramped up pressure on Bolsonaro, a senator who backs an alternate proposal he argues will give workers power to negotiate their hours, to support the popular plan to end Brazil’s so-called “6x1” labor schedule.

“Most Brazilian workers want an end to the 6x1 schedule, so I’ll vote in favor of ending it,” Bolsonaro told reporters in Brasilia on Tuesday. “But I support something better: I would like workers to have freedom to set their own work schedule.”Polls have shown Bolsonaro, who helped delay a vote on the legislation ahead of the first round, in the lead. But the reversal suggests he sees the bill as a potential vulnerability amid new surveys showing that Lula remains within striking distance ahead of the Oct. 25 runoff.

Lula has championed the end of the schedule under which many employees work six days followed by one day off as a way to reconnect with elements of his working class base that have moved toward the right in recent elections.

Over the weekend, the leftist leader drew thousands of supporters to a rally in Sao Paulo, where many called for passage of the proposal to give workers an extra day off without a reduction in pay. He held a similar event in Brasilia on Friday.

Bolsonaro led Lula 52% to 48% in a BTG Pactual/Nexus poll released Tuesday, on the edge of its margin of error of plus-or-minus 2 points. A PoderData/Aya survey found the senator numerically ahead 51% to 49%, within its 1.8-point margin of error.

Even as he pledged to vote in favor of the change, Bolsonaro nodded to concerns from business groups that argue it would increase labor costs while reducing productivity and economic activity. He also blamed Lula for hurting workers suffering from high levels of household debt.

“We have to strive to ensure that workers have the right to more time off,” Bolsonaro said. “But the reality for Brazilians today is that Lula broke the companies, the companies are indebted. And Lula also indebted Brazilian families.”Lula’s government on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to forgive 12.6 billion reais ($2.5 billion) in debt owed by so-called microentrepreneurs, adding to a wave of debt relief measures his administration has pushed this year.

The government will buy the debts from private banks, which will be expected to offer a discount, Finance Minister Dario Durigan said in Brasilia. The proposal still needs congressional approval.