Strike Shuts Down Eiffel Tower on Centenary of Gustave Eiffel’s Death

France’s Eiffel Tower will remain closed to the public this Wednesday due to a one-day strike organized by its employees, as announced by the Eiffel Tower Operating Company (SETE).

The operating company stated on the monument’s website, “Due to the strike action by a category of staff, the Eiffel Tower is currently closed.”

The decision to strike on the 100th anniversary of the death of engineer Gustave Eiffel was made by the tower’s employees to “denounce the current management that is leading the SETE straight into a dead-end,” stated the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) in a press release.

The union particularly criticizes an “overly ambitious and unsustainable” economic model resulting from an undervaluation of the monument’s construction budgets and an overestimation of revenues based on annual visitor targets of 7.4 million, levels of attendance never achieved.

The labor organization also raises concerns about the significant increase in the cost of maintenance and restoration work on the monument, which is “uncontrolled and unbearable for the financial balance of the SETE.”

In 2022, the Eiffel Tower welcomed nearly 6 million visitors, according to figures from the operating company.

Constructed in 1889 for the Paris Universal Exposition, the Eiffel Tower swiftly became a symbol of France and its capital.

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