France’s Louvre Museum closed as workers begin rolling strike
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The Paris Louvre Museum is still reeling from an October jewel heist and recent infrastructure problems including a water leak.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS – The Paris Louvre Museum was closed on Dec 15 after staff began a rolling strike to demand better working conditions and urgent renovations, disrupting access at the world’s most visited museum at one of the busiest times of the year.
The walkout comes as the museum is still reeling from the brazen theft in October of jewels
The Louvre normally welcomes approximately 30,000 visitors daily. Because the museum is routinely closed on Tuesday, it will not re-open before Dec 17, when workers will have to decide whether the strike continues.
After unions warned of a strike last week, the museum remained shut at the usual opening time of 9am on Dec 15, shortly before a vote confirming the walkout.
Some 400 out of the museum’s 2,200 employees supported the labour action.
“Due to a strike, the museum is closed for the day,” the Louvre said on X.
Complaints over working conditions
The strike, called by the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT), General Confederation of Labour (CGT) and Sud unions, follows what they described as “increasingly degraded working conditions” and insufficient staffing.
The unions said employees are suffering from “an ever-increasing workload” and “contradictory instructions” that prevent them from carrying out their duties properly.
Union requests include hiring more permanent staff, particularly in security and visitor services, and improved working conditions.
The unions also oppose a 45 per cent ticket price increase from mid-January 2026 for non-EU tourists
“We know very well that visiting the Louvre is sometimes the trip of a lifetime. So we really don’t want to penalise visitors,” Ms Elise Muller, national secretary of Sud Culture union, told Reuters.
“In fact, we feel like we’re the last ones trying to insist that the public should be able to visit a Louvre that is safe, a Louvre that has been neglected by its management for several years now.”
Tourists disappointed
Some tourists came to the Louvre early on Dec 15 despite the threatened strike, and found it shut.
“We get here and we see them taking the placards that say the time and turning them around, and one of them said the Louvre is closed,” said Ms Gretchen Johnson, an American visitor from Texas.
“And so then we went up and asked: ‘When will it open?’, he said: ‘Probably not this morning, for sure not this morning’.”
Ms Melissa Frisvold, also from Texas, said: “As tourists we do not want to interfere in your politics. We just want to be gracious. So we understand when people need to go on strike.” REUTERS
