Employees of the company which runs community centers in Ashdod started an open-ended strike on Tuesday in protest of what they call Mayor Yechiel Lasry's refusal to conduct collective bargaining negotiations with them.

The workers are trying to close the community centers and disrupt, if not prevent, daycare centers, afternoon care centers and other activities. On Wednesday, they plan to disrupt the city's summer camps. Community-center manager Yigal Gamliel said Monday night that a number of workers had told him they would show up as normal.