The Eiffel Tower is closed for the fourth day due to an employee strike
Anthony Aranda, a 23-year-old tourist from Peru, had just two days to visit Paris with his cousin, so reaching the top of the Eiffel Tower featured prominently on his to-do list. But on Thursday he had to cross it off that list without setting foot on France's famous Iron Lady.
A workers' strike, now in its fourth day, kept the tower closed.
“We're traveling to London next, so this was our last chance,” Mr. Aranda said in the drizzling rain as he looked up at the wrought-iron monument. “At least that was the idea.”
Mr Aranda, who is studying electronics in Spain, said he would get over the disappointment – adding, as striking workers beat drums nearby, that “they are just fighting for their rights.”
But in Paris, just months before the city is due to host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, there are concerns that the battle could turn into a protracted and highly visible labor dispute at one of the French capital's most visited monuments. In fact, the location is so symbolic that medals made for the Games will be inlaid with iron from the tower itself.
“It is the image of France,” Olivia Grégoire, the French minister in charge of tourism, told Sud Radioadding that she understood the concerns of Eiffel Tower workers.
The main claim from unions representing the strikers is that financial mismanagement at the Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, which operates the monument, is jeopardizing essential renovation work. The unionized workers have threatened to continue their strike for as long as necessary.
The tower operator and city officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this article. But City Hall has dismissed allegations of neglect, denied that the tower was suffering from dangerous corrosion and expressed confidence that the labor dispute would not continue indefinitely.
“I am not particularly concerned about strikes during the Olympic Games,” said Emmanuel Grégoire, deputy mayor of Paris. the broadcaster Franceinfo said on Wednesday.
He acknowledged that the tower operator had suffered a loss of about 130 million euros, about $140 million, during the pandemic. But he said the city had “never failed in its duty” to the monument.
“The city supports the Eiffel Tower – it is its jewel,” Mr Grégoire added. “We are going to get out of this situation. We trust that the operating company will talk to employees and address their concerns.”
With a height of 380 meters – about three-quarters the height of the Empire State Building, including the spire – the tower attracts almost seven million tourists per year. But few were visible Thursday morning.
Visitors with tickets purchased online were emailed about the closure and reimbursed; the gloomy weather seemed to keep many others away. For the few who stayed behind, the tower was a quick photo stop on the way to sights like the Louvre.
“It's very beautiful,” Barkin Gursoy, a 24-year-old lawyer visiting from Istanbul, said of the tower as he walked by. “Even more beautiful in the rain.”
But unions say beauty is under threat.
The city of Paris owns the Eiffel Tower and is the majority shareholder in the company that operates the tower, with approximately 360 employees. Under an agreement now under review, the company will pay an annual fee to the city: It paid €8 million in 2021 to royalties and almost €16 million in 2022.
Unions say the city is now asking for 50 million euros a year – an amount they fear will hamper the operator's ability to keep the Eiffel Tower in good condition. The monument must be regularly stripped of old paint and got a new coat to prevent rust and other forms of deterioration.
On Thursday, more than fifty striking workers chanted slogans and waved union flags and signs at the staff entrance. A banner depicted Mayor Anne Hidalgo milking the Eiffel Tower and accused her of using the monument as a “cash cow.”
Nada Bzioui, a representative of the Force Ouvrière union for Eiffel Tower workers, said at the scene Thursday that recent painting campaigns had gone over budget and were limited to the outward-facing parts of the tower, hiding internal corrosion.
She said the unions are not opposed to paying the city compensation, but they wanted more financial breathing room. She also questioned the company's continued ability to pay maintenance costs and employee salaries.
“It's a national monument,” Ms Bzioui said. “We can't let it go like this.”
The unions had left the unions in December, on the centenary of the death of Gustave Eiffel, the civil engineer whose company designed and built the monument, over similar complaints. On Thursday, a sign from the union members referred to him: “The town hall is filling up. Sorry, Gustavus.” (It rhymes in French.)
“Workers have been sounding the alarm for months, even years,” said Sophie Binet, head of the Confédération Générale du Travail, France's second-largest union, during a visit to the tower to lend her support.
A handful of tourists watched from a distance as the workers protested. Many onlookers were understanding, including Mariana Pedrosa Ramos Pinto, 43, an English and French teacher from southern Brazil who was in Paris with her husband to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary.
“We were hoping to pass by, but it's OK, we can take pictures,” said Ms. Ramos Pinto as the couple took shelter under a blue umbrella. “It was more to appreciate it from the outside.”
The couple noted that the Brazilian president is, after all, a former union leader. And many visitors already see France as a country where strikes are as common as baguettes.
“We didn't expect to climb up,” said Ms. Ramos Pinto, adding of the protest: “We goods expect something like that.”