Eiffel Tower to Resume Operations After Staff Walkout Over Women’s Exclusion During Religious Visit

The Eiffel Tower is scheduled to resume operations on Tuesday following a strike by staff members the previous day. The walkout was prompted by the sidelining of female employees during a visit from a Hindu religious group, which subsequently issued an apology.

The operating company responsible for the Paris landmark, SETE, conceded that the Hindu delegation had requested the visit be arranged to limit “interactions with women.” The company stated that such conditions should not have been accepted.

Following discussions between staff and management, the landmark is set to reopen on Tuesday.

The Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) spiritual movement expressed regret for any “pain or inconvenience caused” by the incident.

In a post on X, the organization stated, “To the best of our knowledge, at no point was anyone prevented access to the Eiffel Tower.”

They further explained, “Due to the size of our delegation, the visit was arranged in conjunction with the Eiffel Tower team at the start of normal operating hours to avoid disrupting or inconveniencing others.”

Eiffel Tower staff issued a statement condemning “professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced, and made invisible because of their sex” during the delegation’s visit.

The staff clarified that “instructions were given to female employees of the Eiffel Tower and to female employees of contractors to make themselves invisible in order to welcome this delegation.” They expressed shock at being placed in such a situation.

According to the staff, “Some were asked to leave their posts and withdraw to other areas. In some posts they were replaced by men. And all female employees were instructed not to go through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present.”

Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire pledged to launch an investigation “as soon as possible.”

Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly, also condemned the incident on Monday.

She declared, “I refuse to accept that women should be told to step aside to meet the demands of foreign visitors.”

Adding, “Welcoming others never means giving up our values. In France, women are fully present in public life. No one tells them to become invisible there.”

The Eiffel Tower’s website confirmed that the landmark was closed on Monday due to “exceptional circumstances.”

Visitors holding tickets were advised to check their emails, and the company apologized for the inconvenience.

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