Eiffel Tower reopens after protest over removing women staff

The Eiffel Tower has reopened after staff walked out over the removal of women staff during a weekend visit by a Hindu religious delegation.

The operating company that runs the Paris landmark, SETE, acknowledged that the group had requested the Saturday visit be organised to limit “interactions with women” and said “these conditions should not have been accepted.”

It said the landmark would reopen on Tuesday following a meeting the previous day between staff and management over the incident, which has also drawn criticism from French politicians.

On its website, the Eiffel Tower said the iconic monument was “open today”. Shortly before 9:30am (7:30 GMT), visitors were passing through security checkpoints at the foot of the tower, a journalist with the AFP news agency said.

The Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) spiritual movement apologised for “any pain or inconvenience caused” by their visit.

“To the best of our knowledge, at no point was anyone prevented access to the Eiffel Tower,” the organisation wrote on social media.

“Due to the size of our delegation, the visit was arranged in conjunction with the Eiffel Tower team at the start of normal operating hours to avoid disrupting or inconveniencing others.”

Eiffel Tower staff said in a statement that they condemned “professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex” during the visit by the delegation.

“Some were asked to leave their posts and withdraw to other areas. In some posts they were replaced by men. And all female employees were instructed not to go through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present,” staff said, adding they were shocked to have been put in such a situation.

Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said an investigation would be launched “as soon as possible”. In a post on social media, he said he was aware of the employees’ anger and agreed their dissatisfaction was legitimate.

Yael Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly, wrote in a post on social media: “Welcoming others never means giving up our values. In France, women are fully present in public life. No one tells them to become invisible.”