Eiffel Tower reopens after strike over sidelining of female staff for Hindu delegation visit

Reopening after staff walkout

The Eiffel Tower reopened to visitors on Tuesday morning, 8 September 2026, ending a 24-hour closure triggered by an employee strike. Tourists began passing through security checkpoints at the base of the Paris monument shortly before 09:30 as normal operations resumed. Staff walked off the job on Monday, 7 September 2026, after learning that female colleagues had been ordered away from their posts during a private weekend event. Organised with the support of the CGT trade union, the strike halted visits at the world's most-visited paid monument. Union representatives stressed that the symbol of France must remain exemplary in protecting equal treatment for its workforce.

Instructions during the BAPS delegation visit

The walkout stemmed from events on Saturday morning, 5 September 2026, when leaders of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) movement toured the monument. The visit was arranged alongside a cultural boat procession on the Seine before the consecration of a Hindu temple in Bussy-Saint-Georges, located 30 kilometres east of Paris. Ahead of the tour, BAPS representatives asked management to restrict the group's interactions with female personnel. Management complied, instructing female staff and contractor employees on the monument's levels to step aside, retreat to separate rooms, and avoid areas where the delegation walked. Male employees were subsequently brought in to replace the women and accompany the visitors.

Some were asked to leave their posts and wait in separate rooms. In some posts, women were replaced by men. All female employees were instructed not to pass through or enter certain areas while the [Hindu] delegation was present.

Operating company admission and religious response

The publicly owned Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) acknowledged the incident and conceded that accepting the restrictions was an error. SETE stated that the conditions violated its workplace values, the neutrality expected at the monument, and the republican principle of equality between men and women. Ariel Weil, president of SETE, described the managerial decision as totally unacceptable in an interview with BFMTV and pledged steps to prevent similar occurrences. BAPS, a spiritual organization with ties to India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, published an apology on Monday while maintaining that general public access had not been restricted.

To our knowledge, nobody was refused access to the Eiffel Tower at any moment. Nevertheless, We offer our sincere apologies to anyone who may have been hurt or offended by this situation.

Political fallout and municipal inquiry

The exclusion of female workers generated widespread criticism among French lawmakers and municipal leaders. Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire visited the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday morning to meet with employees, express solidarity, and oversee an administrative investigation into how the instructions were approved. France's minister for equality, Aurore Bergé, asserted that equality between the sexes is neither negotiable nor variable. Former prime minister Michel Barnier insisted that women must never be hidden or removed from public view. Regional president Valérie Pécresse expressed shock at the treatment of female staff, while other political figures criticized the concession to religious demands.

Equality between women and men will never stop at the foot of our historical monuments, nor anywhere in this city.