Representative union compromise binds employees and bars separate individual challenge in the same proceeding.

Under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946, employees were required to act in proceedings through the representative of employees, with the representative union having priority under the statutory scheme. Once that union had validly appeared and accepted a compromise, the provisos to Sections 32 and 33 prevented dissenting employees from separately contesting the same matter in the proceeding. The compromise therefore bound all employees represented by the union, and the opposing employees could not continue the appeal independently.

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Issues: Whether a compromise entered into by the representative union bound the employees who were not consenting to it and whether such employees could continue to press the appeal independently.

Analysis: Under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946, Section 27-A requires employees to act in proceedings through the representative of employees, subject to the stated exceptions. Section 80 defines the representative of employees in a preferential order, with the representative union taking precedence for the industry. The provisos to Sections 32 and 33 make it clear that once the representative union has appeared and acted for the employees, an individual employee cannot separately appear or contest against that action in the same proceeding. As the representative union had validly entered into and accepted the compromise, the dissenting employees were bound by it.

Conclusion: The compromise was binding on all employees represented in the matter, and the employees opposing it could not continue the appeal independently.

Final Conclusion: The compromise was given effect in the connected appeal, and the remaining appeal failed because the representative union's settlement bound the employees.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute confers representative status on a union and requires employees to act through that representative in proceedings, a valid compromise entered into by the representative union binds the employees it represents and precludes separate individual challenge in the same proceeding.

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