There are few places in Paris more iconic than the Eiffel Tower. It’s the sort of landmark that feels almost untouchable, a permanent part of the city’s skyline and a place where millions of visitors come and go every year.
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France / Yovan Verma / Unsplash
But the famous landmark was briefly closed this week after staff walked out over the treatment of female employees during a private visit by a Hindu delegation.
The Eiffel Tower reopened on Tuesday, 8 September, after the strike closed the attraction for a day.
The dispute followed a visit on Saturday by a delegation of around 100 people from BAPS, a Hindu organisation in the Swaminarayan tradition. The group was in Paris for the inauguration of a major Hindu temple in Bussy-Saint-Georges, east of the city.
According to the CGT union, female employees were moved away from certain areas of the tower during the visit and, in some cases, replaced by their male colleagues. The union said the arrangements meant women were prevented from carrying out their usual duties and described the situation as discriminatory.
A decision the Eiffel Tower operator regrets
The Eiffel Tower is operated by the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), which has acknowledged that arrangements were made to limit interactions between the visiting delegation and female employees.
SETE has since said accepting those conditions was a mistake. The company said the arrangements were incompatible with the principle of gender equality and the neutrality expected at the Eiffel Tower.
That admission has added weight to the concerns raised by employees, particularly because the decision was not simply about accommodating a private group. It involved changing the way some staff could perform their jobs because they were women.
Paris authorities have also taken notice and an investigation has been launched into what happened, with Paris officials stressing that gender equality must apply across the city, including at its monuments.
BAPS denies asking for women to be excluded
BAPS, however, has disputed the suggestion that it specifically asked for female employees to be excluded.
The organisation said its visit had been coordinated with Eiffel Tower management to minimise disruption, but that this was never intended to be a request based on gender.
BAPS also apologised to anyone who had been hurt or inconvenienced by what happened and said that they remained committed to equality and mutual respect.
That leaves an important distinction in the story. The controversy is not simply about what the visiting delegation allegedly wanted, but also about the decision by the Eiffel Tower’s management to accept arrangements that resulted in female employees being moved away from parts of the attraction.
For the staff involved, that was enough to bring the tower to a standstill.
It’s not the first incident where workers at the Eiffel Tower have used industrial action to make their concerns heard. The landmark was also closed for several days in 2024 during a strike linked to maintenance concerns and pay.
This time, however, the dispute has raised a different question: what happens when the expectations of a private visitor group come up against the principles of equality in a public tourist attraction?
But for now, the Eiffel Tower is open again and visitors can once more make their way beneath the iconic iron structure.
Source (Travel daily news)
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