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Louvre reopens after strike action, but only to people with pre-paid tickets

The Louvre in Paris opened later than normal on Wednesday as a meeting was held to decide on next steps after Monday's strike by reception and security staff saw the museum closed for the day.

Published: 29 May 2019 11:38 CEST
Louvre reopens after strike action, but only to people with pre-paid tickets
Tourists queuing outside the Louvre on Wednesday. Photo: The Local

On Wednesday the Louvre's official Twitter account announced that the museum would be open later than usual due to a “general meeting attended by members of the Musée du Louvre’s reception and security staff”.

The museum finally opened at about 11am, but said that due to the crowds, only people with pre-booked time-slot tickets will be admitted on Wednesday.

READ ALSO:

 

The meeting was to decide the next steps after reception and security staff went on strike on Monday, leading to the museum's closure, which left thousands of tourists disappointed.

“Staff will meet in a general meeting on Wednesday morning to decide what to do next depending on the responses we get from the museum and ministry management,” the Sud Culture Solidaires union told The Local on Monday.

According to CGT-Culture National Secretary Christian Galani, the workers had decided to walk out after a discussion of grievances during a training session on Monday morning.
 
On Wednesday he told the Local: “The management suggested a series of measures to the employees yesterday, which they discussed during a lively general meeting this morning.”
 
He added that the employees ultimately decided to try out the measures, which included the implementation of a system of mandatory reservations, the hiring of an additional 30 staff members and spreading out the calendar of numerous construction and renovation projects, which employees say increase tension and crowding in the museum. 
 
But while museum employees discussed museum's proposals, the tourists who were queuing outside said there had been no information on when the museum would open.
 
 

One family visiting from the US said they had been waiting for over three hours, and had also tried to visit on Monday.

Rohan Mekala, from Edison, New Jersey, said: “We were here all Monday morning, from about 8:30-11:30. Nobody told us what was going on, they just kept telling us to wait longer and longer.

“My mom has been sitting down because she can’t stand in line for too long. She had her ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) operated on, so she can’t stand in line for hours like us.”
 
His sister Revathi Mekala said: “They’re not telling anybody anything. They just want the lines to get longer and longer so they can use us as leverage.
 
“We bought two-day museum passes at €48 a pop to get out of waiting in line. If we can’t use it today, it will be a waste of money as we fly back tonight.”
 
Their father Nara added: “They should give notification. Like this, the public is punished.”


The Mekala family from New Jersey waiting outside the Louvre. Photo: The Local

The reason for the strike was the “suffocating” conditions which staff say is caused by overcrowding, with the number of tourists jumping by 20 percent since 2009, as well as a shortage of staff. Click here to read more about their grievances.

In a statement released on Monday the union Sud Culture Solidaires said: “The Louvre is suffocating” and that staff members have noticed a “deterioration in conditions for visitors and workers”. 

On Wednesday, the Louvre also advised visitors to reserve their ticket online due to the fact that “high visitor numbers are expected over the coming days.”

The Louvre is normally open from 9am – 9.45pm on Wednesdays.

 

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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