Louvre Museum in Paris closes doors as staff begin 3-day strike over working conditions

By Ilayda Cakirtekin

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Louvre Museum in the French capital of Paris remained closed on Monday as staff went on a renewable strike over working conditions and pay, nearly two months after a daytime jewel theft exposed security and staffing shortcomings.

Around 400 employees voted unanimously during a general assembly for a renewable strike, calling for better working conditions, higher wages, and staffing to address the dilapidation of the palace, according to broadcaster BFMTV.

The museum will be closed until Wednesday, when another general assembly is expected to take place, as Tuesday is already the Louvre's weekly closure day.

Trade unions, including CGT, CFDT, and SUD, announced the strike last week, claiming that visiting the museum has become a "real obstacle course," urging a shift in priorities and urgent needs.

The unions also stressed management’s disregard for urgent building issues, citing a major leak that flooded the Egyptian antiquities department and damaged around 400 books, as well as the audacious daytime jewel theft.

On Oct. 19, a group of thieves parked a stolen truck outside the Louvre Museum, used a furniture lift to reach the first floor, and forced their way into one of the museum’s most ornate rooms.

Within minutes, they fled on scooters with royal jewels, including an emerald and diamond necklace once given by Napoleon Bonaparte to his second wife, Austria’s Marie-Louise, and a diadem belonging to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.

In a separate development, the museum announced in late November that it would raise ticket prices for most non-EU visitors to €32, a 45% increase.

The Louvre welcomed 8.7 million visitors in 2024, 69% of them from abroad.