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🇴🇲 Oman /Culture & Society

Eiffel Tower Workers Strike After Female Staff Are Removed From Religious Group’s Visit

From Times of Oman · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Eiffel Tower employees went on strike after female workers were sidelined during a visit by about 100 men from the BAPS Hindu spiritual movement.
  • Staff condemned instructions that excluded women, while Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire called the incident unacceptable.
  • Tower operator SETE acknowledged the decision was a mistake and said it would draw the necessary conclusions; the landmark reopened the following day.

The Eiffel Tower shut its doors for a day after employees walked out in protest over female staff being excluded during a visit by a Hindu religious group.

About 100 men from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or BAPS, were visiting the Paris landmark. The tower’s operator, SETE, said the group had requested a visit in which interactions with women would be limited.

Professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex.

· Eiffel Tower staffEmployees used these words in a statement condemning the treatment of female workers during the visit.

Staff condemned the “professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex.” Visitors saw a notice saying the tower’s opening had been delayed for operational reasons.

Equality between women and men will never end at the foot of our historic monuments, nor anywhere else in this city.

· Emmanuel GregoireThe Paris mayor criticized the exclusion of female staff.

Paris Socialist Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire called the incident unacceptable. “Equality between women and men will never end at the foot of our historic monuments, nor anywhere else in this city,” he said.

SETE acknowledged that the decision was a mistake. Company head Ariel Weil said the conditions should not have been accepted and that the company would draw the necessary conclusions. He also wrote that no religious motive could justify discrimination based on gender or any other consideration in welcoming the public.

These conditions should not have been accepted.

· SETEThe Eiffel Tower operator acknowledged that accepting the requested arrangements was a mistake.

The tower, which receives about seven million visitors a year, was closed throughout the day because of the strike. A staff representative said it would reopen on Tuesday.

No motive of a religious order could justify a distinction based on gender or any other discriminatory consideration in welcoming the public.

· Ariel WeilThe SETE chief addressed the controversy in a post on X.
About this summary

Originally published by Times of Oman in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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