The beginning of Guilherme Boles’ (PSol) term as minister in Lula’s government was marked by interest in the agenda of delivery personnel, so-called motorcycle couriers, a constituency attracted in the last municipal elections by right-wing candidates such as the influential Pablo Marsal (PRTB), who almost reached the second round in the dispute for the mayor of São Paulo.
In one of his first agendas as Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, Pauls received leaders of delivery movements, such as J.R. Freitas, of the Workers Without Rights Movement, and Nicholas Santos, of the National Alliance of Delivery Workers.
Both will be part of a working group to be formed by the ministry to discuss a policy targeting motorcyclists. Among the demands of workers in dialogue with Pulse’s department are a minimum payment per delivery and per kilometre, as well as greater transparency from the algorithms used by delivery platforms such as iFood.
“This is an issue that I have been instructed by President Lula to deal with as a top priority. Today, there are 3 million workers across Brazil who work via the app, whether it is the delivery man who rides a motorcycle every day and sometimes works 10 hours a day in major cities, an almost risky profession, or the worker who drives an Uber,” Polis said last Tuesday (11/25) on the federal government’s “Good Morning Minister” program.
The decree establishing the working group is expected to be published in the coming days. The initiative will be implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and will also be attended by representatives of the Labor Court.
Polis was already referring to the agenda when he introduced a bill as a federal representative providing for improved working conditions and bonuses for app delivery employees.
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The text is being dealt with by a special committee in the chamber, but there is no optimism from the motorcycle movements that it will move forward. Paul continues to say publicly that he believes the project will flourish. In recent days, the Minister met with the Rapporteur and the Chairman of the Committee and invited them to participate in the talks within the working group.
Today I met with members of the National Alliance of Delivery Workers and received a letter from them with the main demands of this group. Good, direct conversation. Let’s work together to ensure the rights of app workers in Brazil.
@graccho pic.twitter.com/5YyCVJkJ6k
– Guilherme Boulos (@GuilhermeBoulos) October 30, 2025
Criticism of unions and the demands of movements
to CapitalsMotorcycle courier leaders who participated in the talks celebrated the transfer of the agenda to the ministry led by Guilherme Boulos.
Previously, the matter was in the hands of Minister Luiz Marinho of the Labor Party, who received criticism from professionals regarding the way the talks were conducted. Marinho, a former union member, would have prioritized the opinion of traditional unions during the discussions, which, in the eyes of delivery drivers, do not take into account the current demands of the class.
“Paul is always very open. Take recent interviews, he says that the world of work has changed. He understood this too, that unionism was important, but now it is no longer possible. We understand the struggle and the importance of unions and centralized unions, but the men are out there in the street, and the chaos has not changed, and it has not succeeded. State representative,” says JR Freitas, affiliated with PSol and who should run in 2026.
For Nicolas Santos, of the National Rendition Front, the meeting with Boles was a way to put pressure on Lula’s government so that some concrete action could be taken.
“It is an electoral commitment, we have not forgotten that. Lula, as a candidate, spoke a lot about our category, promising that we would have the dignity we seek, and so far, in fact, we have not achieved any tangible achievement, despite the working group organized by the government in 2023 through the Ministry of Labour.”
Motorcycle taxi and right
In São Paulo, the issue of delivery drivers has gained great importance throughout the year due to the legal battle between the apps and the city Mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB) regarding the app-based motaxi service, which is prohibited by municipal decree, and which is being challenged in court.
In this scenario, JR Freitas became known as he became one of the main voices of the motorcycle courier movement in contrast to Nunes’ position of banning the activity. The group advocates releasing the method, as long as it regulates commitments on the part of applications.
At the height of the clashes over the issue, Freitas and PSol council members joined forces with Bolsonaro’s advisor Lucas Pavanato (PL), who at the time also took a positive stance towards the launch of motorcycle taxis and engaged in a public fight with Nunes, which saw him gain support and popularity among motorcycle couriers.
“When I saw Pavanato, that was my sadness too. I saw that the only parliamentarian who was jumping on the agenda was Pavanato. I said: ‘It is not possible for the left to take this path of not reaching out to the workers.’ “P Sol saw it and PT did not,” said the motorbike courier.
For Santos, this group’s attraction to politicians like Bafanato and Marsal is something that has occurred throughout Brazil and does not necessarily have anything to do with ideology. He cited the examples of Belo Horizonte (MG) and Fortaleza (CE), where right-wing candidates also received the support of this audience.
“In fact, delivery men are very likely to support anyone who makes a concrete delivery. When we see, for example, that in Fortaleza there was a promise to reduce the IPVA, the delivery men went there and joined the candidate who said that. In Belo Horizonte, when Bruno Engler and Mauro Tramonti talked about the Blue Belt, the delivery men tended to support those candidates. It is the same thing that we will see in next year’s elections. Anyone who has a proposal for a concrete delivery for the delivery people is likely to be able to Delivery drivers attract the sympathy of these voters.