Eiffel Tower closed due to strike after female staff allegedly removed for religious group
Daftar Isi
Eiffel Tower Closed Due to Strike Over Staff Dispute
Activelifezero.com – The Eiffel Tower closed due to strike action on Monday when employees walked off the job over allegations that female staff were sidelined during a visit by a Hindu religious delegation. French politicians quickly condemned the episode, and Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire confirmed an investigation is underway.
What Triggered the Walkout?
Roughly 100 members of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a global Hindu organization headquartered in Ahmedabad, India, toured the landmark on Saturday. Union representative Diane Davoine told reporters that during the visit, “women were asked to leave their places of work in order to place men there.” She added that the treatment “absolutely does not go down well” with employees, particularly women who felt “humiliated by what happened.”
The Eiffel Tower Operating Company (SETE) acknowledged via CNN affiliate BFMTV that the delegation had requested conditions limiting “interactions with women.” SETE stated those conditions “should not have been accepted.”
Reactions from French Officials and BAPS
Mayor Grégoire wrote on X: “It is not acceptable that such conditions can be tolerated… where everyone should be able to move about and act freely, without distinction between women and men.” Gender Equality Minister Aurore Bergé called the alleged incident “unacceptable,” adding that gender equality in France is “neither negotiable nor subject to varying standards. It is a principle, and there are no exceptions to it.”
In a statement on X, BAPS said it took the concerns “very seriously” and that the visit was arranged “in coordination with the Eiffel Tower team at the start of normal opening hours” to limit disruption. The organization added: “To the best of our knowledge, at no point was anyone prevented access to the Eiffel Tower.” It closed with: “Nevertheless, we sincerely apologise for any pain or inconvenience caused.”
The closure made headlines across India on Tuesday. Social-media commentators questioned why management complied with the purported request to sideline female staff, while others said the episode stained India’s credibility. France, with its long feminist tradition and constitutional secularism rooted in the French Revolution, reacted sharply; in 2024 it became the first nation to enshrine abortion rights in its constitution.
BAPS, known for ornate temples worldwide, had been holding events in France in recent days. Last week a procession “led by women and girls of all ages” moved through Bussy-Saint-Georges, an eastern Paris suburb, and more than 5,500 devotees joined a boat procession on the Seine. The organization’s Robbinsville, New Jersey temple is the largest Hindu temple in the United States, and it also built the largest in the United Arab Emirates, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was the Eiffel Tower closed due to strike? Employees walked out on Monday to protest claims that female staff were removed from their posts during a BAPS delegation visit. Paris Mayor Grégoire confirmed an investigation into the allegations.
What did BAPS say in response? The organization apologized for any inconvenience, stated the visit was coordinated with tower staff at normal opening hours, and said no visitor was denied access to the monument.
What happens next? An official investigation is underway. CNN contacted both SETE and BAPS for further comment ahead of this report.
Hinduism, widely regarded as the world’s oldest living religion and third-largest faith with more than 1 billion followers, reveres femininity through goddess worship. Yet debates over women’s access to temples and rituals persist; in a landmark 2018 ruling, India’s Supreme Court struck down a centuries-old ban on menstruating women entering the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala.
