Paris: The Eiffel Tower was shut to visitors on Monday as staff walked out to protest what they called the sidelining of women workers during a private visit by a Hindu religious group over the weekend.
The walkout followed a Saturday tour by about 100 people linked to BAPS (Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha), and quickly drew strong criticism from top French officials.
Women Told To Step Aside
Union officials said female employees were asked to clear out from their posts and stay out of view as the delegation moved through the monument, with male colleagues brought in to take over their duties.
“As the delegation passed through, women were asked to leave their workstations so that men could take their places,” Diane Davoine, a union representative, told Reuters. The group was in France for events tied to the inauguration of a Hindu temple in the Paris suburbs.
Davoine said anger among staff built up across the weekend, leading workers to call a meeting on Monday morning.
“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,” she said.
The landmark’s opening was delayed as employees gathered for the meeting. Notices at the site told visitors: “The opening of the Eiffel Tower is delayed for operational reasons.”
Davoine said management had apologised to staff over what happened.
Visit Planned To Limit Disruption: BAPS
BAPS said its delegation’s visit had been arranged with Eiffel Tower authorities to keep disruption low and maintain normal access for the public.
In a statement on X, the organisation said the large group’s tour was scheduled with management at the start of regular opening hours to reduce inconvenience to visitors.
The group said it was not aware of any instance in which visitors were refused entry to the tower during the visit.
At the same time, it expressed regret over the row, saying it sincerely apologised to anyone who may have felt hurt or inconvenienced by what happened.
The temple said it stands by the values of mutual respect and service to others, and that it is treating the concerns raised over the incident seriously.
Paris Mayor Orders Probe
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire has ordered an investigation into the allegations that triggered the protest, saying workers’ grievances were justified and needed urgent attention.
In a post on X, Grégoire said he had noted the anger expressed by employees and acknowledged that their frustration was legitimate.
“It is unacceptable that such conditions could be tolerated,” he wrote, adding that they did not reflect either his values or those that the Eiffel Tower should represent.
He underlined that no one should face discrimination at work or in public spaces because of their gender, and said equality between women and men has to be enforced throughout Paris, even at the city’s best-known landmarks.
“It is essential that the circumstances that led to this mobilisation are fully clarified,” Grégoire said, pledging that an investigation would be launched as quickly as possible.
The mayor further promised that gender equality would be enforced throughout the city “without exception.”
The CGT union slammed the episode, calling it the result of “workplace instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and rendered invisible on the basis of their gender”.
Tower Operator Concedes Fault, Orders Probe
SETE, which runs the Eiffel Tower, said the delegation had asked for the visit to be managed so as to restrict “interactions with women”, and admitted that “these conditions should not have been accepted”.
SETE President Ariel Weil said the company would launch an investigation into what happened.
“We are going to shed light on what happened, and we will draw the necessary conclusions,” Weil told Agence France-Presse.
Political Outrage
The incident has also drawn a sharp reaction from Yael Braun-Pivet, president of France’s National Assembly. “I refuse to accept that women should be told to step aside to meet the demands of foreign visitors,” she wrote on X.
“Welcoming others never means giving up our values. In France, women are fully present in public life. No one tells them to become invisible,” she added.
According to NDTV, French equality minister Aurore Berge also reacted sharply on X. “In France, we do not ask women to erase themselves. No dogma, no religion is above the laws of the Republic,” she wrote.
Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen also criticised the episode, saying France would “never accept that women’s presence be ‘limited.'”
Gabriel Attal, a centrist rival to become president, said that “in France, no culture, no belief, no religion, nothing, and no one can come and dictate to women what their place should be.”
The tower, which attracts almost seven million visitors annually, remained closed throughout Monday but is expected to resume normal operations on Tuesday, according to a staff representative.
