Or, Perhaps City Council Does Not Need to Ratify the Agreement

Yesterday I noted that some city of Toronto counsellors were telling media that there is no deal in the City of Toronto strike until council ratifies the deal, and some counsellors no doubt see this as an opportunity to embarrass Miller and get their names in the paper.  Some of those counsellors cutely gave themselves a name–“Responsible Government Group”–are leading the charge.  Oh brother.  Are these people really prepared to prolong the strike by rejecting an agreement their own bargaining team put to the union?  That would be something, especially if the strike then continued and ended in an interest arbitration award that gave the employees the same deal (or a better one) than that on the table now.
Now, Mayor Miller has announced that the striking workers can return to work as soon as the union holds a successful ratification vote. What does that mean?  Not really clear to me.  One interpretation is that council does not need to ratify the deal because the Mayor and the employer’s bargaining team have the authority to bind the City.  If that is the case, then what is all this nonsense being spewed by council members saying there is no deal until the council ratifies the deal.
Or it means that Mayor is promising to reinstate the strikers on the terms set out in the proposed settlement, even if the council later rejects the settlement.  It is always possible for striking workers and the employer to agree to terms of reinstatement during a strike.  Was Miller making an offer to the strikers that they can return to work on the terms in the proposed settlement once the employees ratify those terms, even if the City council rejects the settlement?  Does he have the authority to do that?  Can the City now rescind that offer after Miller has made a public pledge to allow the workers to return to work on the new conditions?  If it does, it is bad faith bargaining?  Too bad it’s summer, cause this strike is giving us lots to talk about in my labour law classes.
The settlement of this strike has become complicated because of the politics being played on the employer side, the apparent uncertainty about what authority the employer’s bargaining committee has to bargain a settlement, the constant media scrutiny, and the fact that the parties themselves do not yet seem to have a clear agreement on what the deal is.  This latter uncertainty has caused Local 416 to hold off on holding its ratification vote until matters are clarified. So on it goes…