Paris (AFP)

"It was the perfect day to go to the museum," laments a tourist. The Louvre, the most visited museum in the world, had to remain closed Sunday after a right of withdrawal voted by the personnel who consider themselves threatened by the epidemic of coronavirus, which the management contests.

All the staff present on Sunday, 300 employees, met in the morning to vote a right of withdrawal "almost unanimously", according to the CGT. This right allows an employee to stop working because of "serious and imminent danger to his life or his health".

Lack of staff, the Paris museum could not open its doors, and did not announce its final closure until late afternoon, leaving visitors in uncertainty.

"Nobody warned us and on the site, there is nothing written!", Gets excited Stefania, tour guide, who first explained to his group, Italians from Friuli and Rome, that the Louvre was closed due to a strike over pension reform.

Some could enter under the pyramid, which remained open to access the auditorium, others took shelter under the porches, all in search of information. "We reserved tickets for 2 p.m. this morning. What is surprising is the lack of information: we are not told how to be reimbursed," rattled Claudia, a Belgian tourist who came to Paris for the weekend. end.

Elie, an American, also ignores the reasons for the closure. "We had to go to Italy but the government advised against avoiding travel to this country ... And since we did not want to be in quarantine when we returned, we decided to come to France," she said.

Under the pyramid, a museum employee explains to visitors (some of whom are protected by a mask): "They canceled the events that bring together more than 5,000 people. We have more than 30,000 visitors a day, so we are awaiting measures from the ministry" .

- "A confined place" -

"The Louvre is a confined space, which welcomes more than 5,000 people a day, there is a real concern on the part of the agents," adds Christian Galani, member of the staff of the Louvre and the national office of the CGT Culture.

At the General Assembly, during which the question of the right of withdrawal was raised, representatives of the management came, but their arguments were "not sufficient to convince the staff and to erase" their fears, continued the trade unionist, stressing that "the right of withdrawal is an individual right which can be exercised collectively".

Management stresses that the establishment "is not at this stage covered by the prefectural decree in force concerning the measures to prohibit assembly in confined places". And according to her, the right of withdrawal "can in principle only target a specific work situation and not a general" epidemic situation.

It ensures that it implements "all the measures recommended by the competent authorities in order to protect the agents and visitors", with in particular the placing in "fortnight" of people returning from risk areas, and the application of hygiene instructions.

An exceptional CHSCT (health, safety and working conditions committee) is to be held on Monday, and Sunday evening, management still did not know whether the museum would remain closed. Visitors are invited to write to the ticket office for reimbursement.

The Louvre received 9.6 million visitors throughout 2019. In mid-January, the Paris museum was blocked by a strike for pensions.

© 2020 AFP