The Eiffel Tower remains closed due to a strike

The Eiffel Tower is headed for a third day of closure on Wednesday due to a strike of its staff, a union representative confirmed to AFP on Tuesday.

The most popular monument in Paris has kept its doors closed since Monday and a union representative, Stéphane Dieu, declared that “there is no possibility of this being unlocked at night.”

The two staff unions, FO and CGT, called the strike to “denounce the current management” of the monument.

The company that manages the tower, SETE, has about 360 workers and told visitors who bought their tickets online that it will keep them informed via email.

The closure caused frustration among many visitors, mainly foreign tourists.

The unions criticize the Paris city council, the company’s majority shareholder, which, according to them, imposes an “unsustainable” business model due to an imbalance between income and expenses, exacerbated by the crisis of COVID-19.

The Eiffel Tower received 6.3 million visitors in 2023, a higher number than in 2019, before the pandemic.

Visitor numbers are expected to increase this summer as the French capital hosts the Olympic Games (July 26 to August 11).

In a joint statement, the CGT and FO unions on Monday asked the mayor’s office “to be reasonable with its financial demands to guarantee the survival of the monument and the company that operates it.”