Strike shuts Eiffel Tower after female staff hidden during religious visit
The Eiffel Tower closed to the public on Monday after staff went on strike over the removal of female employees during a private visit by a Hindu religious group.
Members of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (Baps) – an ultra-conservative Hindu denomination from India – visited the tower on Saturday as part of wider celebrations to inaugurate a temple built by the group near Paris.
During the event, Baps allegedly requested that female staff be “set aside”.
The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) trade union, on behalf of Eiffel Tower staff, said management told women they were not to enter or pass through specific areas while the delegation was present.
Diane Davoine, a union representative, said: “As the delegation passed through, women were asked to leave their workstations so that men could take their places".
“Tensions mounted over the weekend so, this morning, the employees decided to meet: first, to open a dialogue with management, and second, to ensure that women are never treated this way at the company again.”
Eiffel Tower staff condemned “workplace instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and rendered invisible on the basis of their gender”.
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire supported the strike, describing the exclusion of female workers as “unacceptable” and contrary to the “values that the Eiffel Tower stands for”.
He added that Paris authorities would launch an investigation.
Marine Le Pen, the right-wing presidential candidate, said: “In France, we will never accept that the presence of women be ‘limited’. All light must be shed on what happened during this visit to the Eiffel Tower.”
Yael Braun-Pivet, the president of the national assembly, said: “I refuse to accept that women should be told to step aside to meet the demands of foreign visitors".
“Welcoming others never means giving up our values. In France, women are fully present in public life. No one tells them to become invisible.”
Michel Barnier, the former Prime Minister and deputy of the French National Assembly, said: “The Eiffel Tower is at the heart of my constituency. It is the common heritage of all Parisians, of all French people.
“Women are not hidden. They are not erased. They are respected, and their freedom is defended.”
Baps has close ties to India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party and is known for its conservatism.
It is in France to open a temple in Bussy-Saint-Georges, a town on the outskirts of Paris.
According to Mediapart, the construction of the Hindu site, which spans 3500sq m, cost more than £18m ($41.4m) and has become the largest Hindu temple in Continental Europe.
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