A law collective is a non-hierarchical organization which provides legal services to a community or communities in need. Such work ranges from traditional criminal defense, to advocacy on behalf of immigrants, to legal support at mass demonstrations.
In the 1970s, there were many law collectives, crosses between a law firm and a worker-run cooperative. Employees were all paid the same, regardless of lawyer or non-lawyer status. At some law collectives, workers supporting families were paid more.
As of 2004, some law collectives organized along those lines still exist. There is a growing movement of activist law collectives. These groups are usually non-lawyer centered, run along anarchist principles (even if they do not identify as anarchist), and work as part of the movement for social justice. These law collectives are made up mostly or entirely of non-lawyers. They are located in cities including Philadelphia, PA; Washington, DC; New York, NY; Madison, WI; Portland, OR; Oakland, CA; and Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, Canada.
This new generation of law collective works to empower people to provide their own legal support. They give "trainer trainings" so people can give "Know Your Rights" and other trainings to their communities; teach people to run mini-legal offices for their affinity groups; and demystify the law in general and their work in particular.
Law collectives have been central in the successful defense of thousands of activists from criminal prosecution in such protests including the Seattle WTO protests in November 1999; the "A16" World Bank and IMF protests in 2000; the Republican and Democratic convention protests, also in 2000; the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) protests in 2001 and 2004; ongoing protests by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP); and in the mass protests around the US against the war in Iraq in 2003.
Collective agreements regulate employment rights, obligations and responsibilities of the employees and employers, in compliance with the law and other regulations, as well as the extent and means of fulfilling the rights, obligations and other stipulations pertaining to the interests of the employees and employers and the procedures for the settlement of mutual disputes.
Collective agreements are implemented directly and are mandatory in organizations which have concluded the mentioned agreements on behalf of all employees and employers.
Collective agreements on the level of employers are concluded by managing boards or other respective management bodies, which are determined by law, i.e., with the statute of the employers, i.e., between employers and syndicates.
Collective agreements apply to all employees of the categories included in the agreement who are employed in trades or functions included in the agreement by employers who are party to the agreement or who are duly represented, even if they are not members of the employeesÂ’ organisation which is a party to the agreement.
Under this Law, the personal provisions in a collective agreement are considered as a personal employment contract between the employer and the employee, and consequently an employee may claim individually against his employer in respect of his rights under the collective agreement.
The Law also prescribes remuneration for additional work periods (125% for the first two hours and 150% thereafter and for work during the weekly rest), and provides that manual workers shall be entitled to a rest interval during the work day during which they may leave their place of work.
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