faced with a persistent blockage between management and the unions, the monument remains closed

The Eiffel Tower will remain closed on Saturday, for the sixth consecutive day, assured Friday the union delegate of the CGT, the inter-union meeting in a general assembly to decide on the follow-up to the movement.

The Eiffel Tower is heading towards its sixth consecutive day of strike on Saturday, approaching the record in its recent history, after the failure of a first round of negotiations between management and unions, unhappy with the management of the site. Friday on the fifth day of the social conflict, “the general staff meeting voted to renew the strike”, confirmed in a press release the inter-union composed of the CGT and FO.

A little earlier, the CGT union delegate, Stéphane Dieu, had announced to AFP the continuation of the movement because the “only progress” obtained Thursday is “that the town hall has come to the negotiating table”. The inter-union is especially waiting “concrete progress on the general economic model” rather than “attempts by management to divert the heart of the fight to salary issues, which the employees refuse”, she writes.

A historic strike

Thursday, during a meeting judged “constructive” by Jean-François Martins, the president of the Operating Company (Sete), management had mentioned an agreement “signed within fifteen days” about the “conditions of employment and remuneration” employees. “We refused, that wasn’t the subject,” retorted Stéphane Dieu on Friday. The inter-union did not report wage demands and said it was only fighting against the economic model “untenable” imposed by the town hall.

On this subject, management proposed “the creation of a permanent monitoring body” of the financial trajectory “in order to strengthen dialogue with the City” from Paris. The inter-union asks her that she “explains the practical arrangements and room for maneuver” of this future instance “in the event of a slippage in the economic model”, replies Stéphane Dieu.

A new general assembly must be held on Saturday morning, which implies, unless major progress is made by then, a sixth day of closure consecutive to the opening time of the monument, visited on weekends by around 20,000 people per day . If it were to continue beyond Sunday afternoon, this strike would be the longest in the recent history of the tower. In the fall of 1998, the monument remained closed for six and a half days. The ongoing conflict had already led to its closure on December 27, the hundredth anniversary of the disappearance of its architect Gustave Eiffel.

Losses of revenue

The economic balance of the Eiffel Tower, which in 2023 returned to higher attendance than it was before Covid-19, with 6.3 million visitors, was weakened by some 130 million euros in shortfalls. win during the two years of health crisis (2020 and 2021). To cope, Sete was recapitalized to the tune of 60 million euros in 2021. But to the loss of revenue was added an equivalent slate, around 130 million euros, of additional costs of renovation work, mainly linked to the current painting campaign, complicated by the discovery of traces of lead.

To adapt the public service delegation contract, started in 2017, to these new parameters, management and the town hall are preparing an amendment which must be submitted in May to the Paris Council. On Thursday, management communicated the main directions: entry prices increased by 20%, contractual investment plan increased by 145 million euros and contract extended by one year, 2031 instead of 2030, “in order to smooth investments and their depreciation”.

As for the fee paid by Sete to the town hall, if it gradually increases from 8 to 50 million euros, which the unions criticize, the amendment provides for a “downward revision of the calculation methods” which will ultimately lead to “an effort” of 51 million euros from the town hall, details La Sete. But not enough to convince the unions who have not yet received “no specific written proposal”, deplores Stéphane Dieu. Thursday evening, the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, main opponent of the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, pleaded for the Eiffel Tower to be classified as a historic monument, which according to her would allow the State, “if necessary, to undertake work ex officio”.