Senior centers announced today (Tuesday) that they are intensifying their struggle against the Ministry of Welfare and will go on strike tomorrow (Wednesday), shutting down the centers.
The decision to strike the senior centers was made in response to allegations from the Association of Elderly Organizations and Matav Association against Minister of Welfare Ya'akov Margi, claiming that the ministry, under his leadership, has not updated the rate paid to them by the state since 2021. Last month, they initiated a warning strike, stating, "We have not seen any intention from the Ministry of Welfare to resolve the budgetary crisis."
Following this decision, the senior centers will be closed tomorrow (Wednesday), and services will not be provided. In Israel, there are approximately 180 senior day centers that serve around 15,000 elderly individuals. Various associations argue that, "The budget for the senior centers is not anchored in the basic budget, which makes proper and stable management of the centers difficult. Instead, it is budgeted based on a rate that has not been updated since 2021 and is paid according to the number of visitors to the day center." According to them, "The failure to update the rate has caused significant financial deficits estimated in millions of shekels, to the point that some centers will not be able to continue operating independently until the end of 2023 in the current situation."
