Eiffel Tower Closed as Workers Strike Over Female Staff Being Sidelined During Hindu Group Visit

The Eiffel Tower became the scene of an unusual labour dispute after workers walked out to protest arrangements made for a private Hindu delegation. The strike followed a request to limit the spiritual representative’s interactions with women during a visit to the monument.

Around 100 members of BAPS, a traditionalist Hindu movement formally known as Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, visited the second floor on Saturday. The visit formed part of events preceding the inauguration of a Hindu temple in Bussy-Saint-Georges, in Seine-et-Marne.

“

These conditions should not have been accepted, and they comply neither with SETE’s values nor with the principles of equality between women and men and neutrality that must govern visits to the monument.

Before the delegation went upstairs, its representatives asked the Eiffel Tower operating company, SETE, to organise the spiritual leader’s visit while “limiting his interactions with women.” Management accepted the request. Employees reacted with anger and began a strike on Monday morning, accusing the arrangement of making women invisible at one of France’s most iconic monuments.

Marianne revealed the decision, which initially met with an embarrassed silence from SETE, the company that operates the tower on behalf of Paris City Hall. Facing the backlash, SETE issued a statement Monday evening acknowledging that the conditions should never have been accepted.

“

No protocol, cultural or religious consideration could justify departing from the principle of equality between men and women.

“ These conditions should not have been accepted, and they comply neither with SETE’s values nor with the principles of equality between women and men and neutrality that must govern visits to the monument,” the company said. It added that no protocol, cultural or religious consideration could justify departing from gender equality.

The decision’s approval remained unclear. Ariel Weil, SETE’s president and mayor of Paris Centre, called for clarity on social media. Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire, whose city government owns the Eiffel Tower, called for an inquiry “as soon as possible.” Members of the board are also expected to raise the issue at its next meeting.

“

An inquiry as soon as possible.