Mathieu Priore and Louise Sallé / Photo credit: EVERT ELZINGA / ANP MAG / ANP via AFP 7:47 a.m., February 19, 2024

The Eiffel Tower is closed again this Monday due to a strike organized by employees of the CGT and Force Ouvrière. The unions accuse the Paris town hall, which manages 99% of the Eiffel Tower Exploitation Company (SETE), of financial mismanagement. A worrying “standoff” a few months before the Olympic Games.

After the SNCF controllers, they too are on strike. This time we are talking about the agents of the Eiffel Tower, who have filed a renewable strike notice starting this Monday. More than a hundred agents are mobilized. The CGT and Force Ouvrière accuse Paris City Hall of financial mismanagement, because the City has decided to triple the annual fee for this monument. This fee is the amount that the Eiffel Tower must pay each year to the city of Paris. And it increases to 50 million euros in 2024… 

The reason: the town hall estimates that the number of visitors will increase, due to the Olympic Games, and therefore bring in more money. But 50 million euros is too much, considering maintenance costs, according to the Iron Lady's employees.

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Risk of “endangerment”

“If Gustave Eiffel saw the monument, his Eiffel Tower, for which he fought to prevent it from being destroyed, I think he would turn in his grave. And the problem is that if the town hall takes 50 million euros and we cannot carry out this painting campaign plus all the other work that is planned behind it, we are going to jeopardize the sustainability of the monument", annoys Denis Vavassori, CGT delegate.

The LR councilor of Paris in opposition, Aurélien Véron, understands this mobilization: “This strike is because they have the impression that the Paris town hall is picking the pockets of this old lady. The Eiffel Tower is a victim of this race to increase expenses. The Paris town hall will look in everyone's drawers for what it can to finance these expenses", he concludes. The Eiffel Tower operating company did not wish to respond. Negotiations are underway with the strikers but union officials say they are not confident, for the moment, of reaching an agreement.