California state firefighters could get three raises and reduced hours all within the next year after a new tentative contract was struck Thursday with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration.The contract would afford Cal Fire firefighters a retroactive raise of 2.5% from July 1, 2022, plus 2% on Jan. 1 2023 and another 2% raise on July 1, 2023.Fire personnel shifts would also be reduced from an average of 72 hours per shift to 66 hours.“We have to start making home life the priority to the men and women of Cal Fire, and not work life,” said Tim Edwards, President of Local 2881, the Cal Fire union pushing for change.“If you’re working 72 hours and running multiple calls, and you don’t have time to rejuvenate and decompress from what you’ve seen and saw, it’s going to stick in your head,” said Edwards, noting an uptick in firefighters experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Injuries, or PTSI.The union said the new tentative contract could help recruit, filling the gap in staffing shortages, while incentivizing personnel to stay with Cal Fire.Also included in the contract: a $260 per month stipend to help cover health insurance, a bump to longevity stipends and a reduction to the contributions made toward retirement health insurance, according to the union.“I think the money speaks for itself, right? Cal Fire firefighters are the lowest paid in the state as of today… I also think the most significant deal in this contract is the commitment from the administration to start reducing work hours of the Cal Fire firefighters. As you said, we work a 72-hour shift already, the longest in the fire service anywhere in the country,” Edwards said.According to the union, the state has until Wed., Aug. 31 to approve the contract in the budget, at which point it would move to the union members for a vote.If approved, the agreement would increase state spending by $126 million per year starting in 2024.