Eiffel Tower reopens after strike over sidelined female staff

French authorities opened an investigation after female Eiffel Tower employees were removed or redirected during a private visit by a Hindu religious group, triggering a staff strike that temporarily closed one of Paris’s most famous landmarks.

The dispute began after about 100 people linked to Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, known as BAPS, visited the Eiffel Tower on Saturday. The Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, or SETE, which operates the monument, said the delegation had asked for the visit to limit “interactions with women.” SETE said “these conditions should not have been accepted.”

The tower closed Monday after staff walked out in protest. It has since reopened, Al Jazeera reported.

Diane Davoine, a union representative for Eiffel Tower workers, told Reuters that “women were asked to leave their places of work in order to place men there.” She said employees, especially women, were angered by the way staff had been treated.

“That absolutely does not go down well with the employees, with women obviously, who are all humiliated by what happened,” Davoine said, adding that management had repeatedly apologized.

Speaking while the monument was closed Monday, she said: “Tensions mounted over the weekend, so this morning, the employees decided to meet: first, to open a dialogue with management, and second, to ensure that women are never treated this way at the company again.”

The staff union said in a statement that it condemned “professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex.” According to the union, some women were asked to leave their posts and move to other areas, some were replaced by men, and all female employees were told not to pass through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present.

Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said the employees’ “dissatisfaction is legitimate” and that an investigation would be launched “as quickly as possible.” In a post on X, he wrote: “It is not acceptable that such conditions can be tolerated. Equality between women and men will never stop at the foot of our historical monuments, nor anywhere in this city. It must be applied everywhere, for everyone.”

French officials across the political spectrum criticized the reported removal of female staff. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on X that “in France, no culture, no belief, no worship, nothing nor anyone can come dictate to women their place.” Aurore Berge, the minister delegate for gender equality and the fight against discrimination, wrote: “In France, we do not ask women to step aside. No dogma, no religion is superior to the laws of the Republic.”

BAPS is a global Hindu denomination founded in India in 1907. Its monks, known as sadhus, practice strict celibacy and are prohibited from physical contact with women; the rules do not apply to all BAPS followers. Al Jazeera reported that the delegation visiting the Eiffel Tower included both monks and community members.

In a statement posted on X, the BAPS Paris temple said: “To our knowledge, at no time was access to the Eiffel Tower denied to anyone.” It added: “Nevertheless, we wish to offer our sincere apologies to anyone who may have been hurt or inconvenienced by this situation.” The statement did not address whether BAPS had requested that female staff be taken off duty, CBS News reported.

The controversy came one day after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared by video link at the inauguration of a new BAPS Hindu temple in Paris, calling it a “new milestone in the cultural relations between India and France.” BAPS says it is apolitical, while researchers have described a close relationship between the group and Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party government, Al Jazeera reported.

BAPS has also faced previous controversies. A 2021 U.S. federal class-action lawsuit accused the group of exploiting low-caste workers from India at temple construction sites. Al Jazeera reported that a federal labor trafficking investigation at a New Jersey temple closed without criminal charges, while the civil lawsuit continues.