Preschool children across the country will be able to return to their normal routine on Friday after thousands of workers at government-supervised daycare centers ended their strike in response to a settlement by the Finance and Economy ministries.
Daycare centers operated by Na’amat, WIZO, Emunah and Herut Women all participated in the strike, along with the Na’ot Margalit organization of daycare centers, and Yanbu, a nonprofit organization which operates daycare centers in the Israeli Arab community.
Tens of thousands of babies and small children were forced to remain home for the past five days, their parents unable to go to work, as a result of the strike.
Budgets for the facilities will be raised, as will salaries for the workers after union representatives agreed on a deal with Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman and Economy Minister Orna Barbivai.
In addition, the ratio of children to workers will be reduced.
“We’ve led the government to take responsibility for preschoolers,” the union said in a statement.