The most iconic monument & most visited tourist site of Paris, France - The Eiffel Tower closed from 19th February 2024 because of the labour union strike. Hundreds of tourists were greeted with "closed signs" at the base of the monument and tower's website in multiple languages. The tourists & locals were turned away and they were highly disappointed. While some tourists said they enjoyed finding the Eiffel Tower area basically empty, others were not pleased. The father of one of the visiting Dutch families was very upset. He said that closing the Eiffel Tower was not okay because they had to book the entry upfront as they all wanted to go to the top floor. It cost him €36 (euros) i.e ?3,218/-per adult. He said that it's a lot of money if one has a family & therefore, tourists shouldn’t be involved in management’s problems. However, it is unknown if the father was refunded the tickets money or not. A local street vendor of miniature towers and keychains said that he is expecting to lose about €400 euros i.e ?35,752/- if the tower remains closed all week. According to union officials, the strike could go on for several days. The strike will also affect the income of the tower as it draws over 20,000 visitors per day. Paris City Hall refers to the municipal administration responsible for the city of Paris. The Paris City Hall owns 99% of Societe d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE). SETE is the company responsible for managing the Eiffel Tower. This means the majority of the management of the Eiffel Tower is done by the Paris Municipality (Paris City Hall). According to the reports, the labor union has conducted a strike against the Paris City Hall. 400 Eiffel Tower workers have taken part in the strike because they say that the finances of the Eiffel Tower are not being managed properly. The union officials say that the management is not right. They say that the management is thinking that they can sell more tickets. They are depending on ticket sales too much. They are not focused on fixing and taking care of the tower. They think it will not cost much to maintain the tower but in reality it is a lot of money. This is why their management is poor. The current maintenance plan is putting a lot of workload on employees. Their safety is at risk and even tourists are not safe. Plus the union officials said that they had a meeting with the Eiffel Tower higher management last week. In the meeting they were told that the management is planning to remove employees in the future. This is why the union is worried. This is the second time this year the staff have gone on strike for similar reasons. The shut down of Paris’s most iconic monument comes just months before the 2024 Summer Olympics which are scheduled to begin in Paris on 26th July 2024. The Eiffel Tower is one of the core brand design elements of the Paris Olympics and will also feature in the medals that will be handed out during the games.

Tags

• eiffel tower
• france
• paris
• protest

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