Eiffel Tower reopens after strike over removal of female staff during Hindu visit

The Eiffel tower reopened today (September 8) following its closure on Monday due to strike action, sparked by the treatment of female staff during a visit to the monument by a Hindu religious group.

Workers said the demands made of them during the visit – to remain out of the eyeshot of the delegation and not to interact with its leader – was a form of gender-based discrimination. 

A delegation of around 100 members of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) religious group visited the famous landmark on Saturday, in connection with the opening of a Hindu temple in nearby Bussy-Saint-Georges on Sunday.

This included a ‘spiritual leader’ of the group inaugurating the temple, 92-year-old Mahant Swami Maharaj. BAPS representatives reportedly asked the monument’s management if interactions between the swami and women could be limited during the event. 

The group visited the second floor of the monument, as well as spending time at the foot of the tower.

Female staff, including workers from contractor companies, “were asked to leave their posts and stay out of sight in back rooms” during the visit, said workers in a press release. 

“At certain posts, they were replaced by men. And all female employees were instructed not to pass through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present,” they added.

“Female employees cannot be sidelined, replaced at their posts by men, or hidden away in back rooms simply because they are women.” 

Apologies issued

The vote to strike, taken at short notice following the visit, was not called for by unions but passed with a majority backing from employees who took the vote of their own accord. 

Unions including the CGT subsequently backed the strike action, however, with the group saying female staff had been “subjected to sexist abuse [editor’s note, direct translation of les violences sexistes],” during the visit in a press release supporting staff. 

Both the company that manages the monument (Société d'exploitation de la tour Eiffel, Sete) and BAPS have apologised. 

Sete will conduct a “a thorough review of the conditions under which this visit was organised,” it said to public service broadcaster France Info.

“These conditions [made to the delegation] should not have been accepted,” it added.

“Given the size of our delegation, the visit was organised in coordination with the Eiffel Tower staff," said the BAPS in a press release seen by France Info. 

It said its aim was "to minimise any inconvenience to other visitors as much as possible.”

Members of the public who held tickets for a visit on Monday when the site was closed will be fully refunded, Sete added. 

Widespread backlash

The incident has unsurprisingly seen Sete in hot water, with politicians citing France’s rules of égalité and laïcité – separation of religion and state – in the debacle.

Criticism has come from across the breadth of the political spectrum. 

“In France, we will never accept women's presence being 'limited.' The full truth must come to light,” said far-right politician and 2027 presidential candidate Marine Le Pen.

Members of the right-wing Les Républicains also criticised the incident, including MP and former Prime Minister Michel Barnier whose constituency covers the monument.

“We do not hide women. We do not erase them. We respect them and defend their freedom," he said.

 "It is not practices from elsewhere that dictate how women should dress or exist in the public sphere… [it is] utterly unacceptable,’ he added. 

Valérie Pécresse, Les Républicains member and  president of the Île-de-France region, congratulated the Hindu group on the temple but said “such practices ran counter to the laws of the Republic.” 

“The Eiffel Tower is France," said Bruno Retailleau, leader of the party and presidential candidate for 2027.

 "In France, we do not sort French people according to the wishes of those visiting the country.”

Members of the left and far-left also condemned Sete.

“Gender equality is not something to be adjusted to suit commercial demands,” said member of the far-left La France Insoumise Manuel Bompard.

Socialist Ségolène Royal was more reserved, calling the incident a case of “chaos [and] disorder,” in an interview with BFMTV.

“It is a regrettable incident, but one that allows the rules to be re-established,” she said, but cautioned her political rivals about “making a lot of noise about this story [without addressing other issues],” including wage inequality and domestic violence.

Government members also lambasted the incident.

“In France, women are not asked to make themselves invisible. No dogma, no religion stands above the laws of the Republic,” said Minister for Gender Equality Aurore Bergé on social media platform X. 

“I refuse to see women ordered to step aside to satisfy the demands of foreign visitors," said Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the Assemblée nationale.