Tourists still cannot go to the Eiffel Tower due to strikes “Activities in the northernmost part of Sweden”: Secret service warns of Russian threat

Tourists have not been able to visit the Eiffel Tower in Paris for four days due to an employee strike. Dozens of employees demonstrated loudly in front of the monument on Thursday, demanding better maintenance. The accusation was that rust was eating away at the Eiffel Tower while the city was making millions of dollars from ticket sales and saving money on maintenance. “It has been there for 135 years, but for how much longer?” read one of the banners. ‘Milk cow Eiffel Tower’ was the slogan on another poster showing the mayor of Paris milking the tower.

“The strike will continue until the city satisfies the workers,” the head of the CGT union, Sophie Binet, said in front of the demonstrators on Thursday morning. “This mobilization is in the public interest, as it is about ensuring that the Eiffel Tower is resourced for a long-term future.” Binet called on Mayor Anne Hidalgo to negotiate with the employees.

In concrete terms, it is currently about the new coat of paint on the Eiffel Tower. Gustave Eiffel’s important advice that the tower should be painted once every seven years, then it would last forever, was no longer followed, was one accusation. The city denied this and stated that there had been a maintenance pause during the corona pandemic and that lead was discovered during the removal of old layers of paint, which temporarily halted work. The CGT boss said the city had to take into account the additional costs this would cause. In principle, there is no objection to the fact that money flows into the city coffers through the operation of the Eiffel Tower.

Five months before the start of the Paris Olympics, the Eiffel Tower strike is raising concerns about wider protests that could paralyze the city and the Games. Last weekend a rail strike slowed traffic in France and further disruptions have been announced for the coming weekend. And workers in the already congested Paris metro have already announced the possibility of a strike for the entire duration of the Olympics. (saw/sda/dpa)