Late Friday evening, the City of Austin and the Austin Firefighters Association reached a tentative agreement on a four-year labor contract. The tentative agreement includes the following key elements:Pay increases for firefighters in all four years of the agreement. Austin would be the first major metropolitan city in the state of Texas to move towards this type of work schedule. To accomplish this, the City will hire additional full-time firefighters and, in exchange, firefighters will return to a 53-hour work schedule for 18 months. The tentative agreement must be ratified by the Austin Firefighter Association’s membership and will be presented for City Council consideration in October.