Eiffel Tower Closes as Staff Strike Over Allegations Female Workers Were Sidelined for Visiting Religious Delegation

Paris's most famous landmark, the Eiffel Tower, was forced to shut its doors to visitors on Monday after staff members launched a strike to protest claims that female employees were removed from their posts and kept out of view during a visit by an international Hindu delegation.

The labor dispute centers on an early-morning visit on Saturday by approximately 100 members of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a prominent global Hindu organization headquartered in Ahmedabad, India. The group had traveled to France for the weekend inauguration of a newly constructed Hindu temple in the capital.

Union officials representing monument personnel expressed strong outrage over the incident. Diane Davoine, a union representative for the Eiffel Tower staff, stated that female workers were explicitly instructed to leave their assigned workstations so that male employees could take over their positions during the delegation's tour.

Davoine noted that the staff reacted with deep indignation, emphasizing that female employees in particular felt humiliated by the management's decision and the treatment they received simply because of their gender.

The labor action quickly drew high-level political attention in France, leading Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire to announce the launch of an official investigation into the circumstances surrounding the visit.

Grégoire condemned the incident on social media platform X, stating that tolerating such conditions is unacceptable. He affirmed that discriminatory measures conflict fundamentally with his values and the principles that the Eiffel Tower must represent, noting that all individuals should be permitted to work and move freely at the site without any gender-based distinctions.

The monument's operating authority, the Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), acknowledged that the religious group had submitted a request aimed at restricting interactions with female staff members during their tour.

In statements reported by French media, SETE conceded that monument management should never have agreed to the visiting delegation's conditions, acknowledging the decision as a misstep that compromised workplace standards.

In response to the growing controversy, BAPS issued a public statement on X indicating that it was taking the concerns very seriously. The organization explained that the landmark tour had been coordinated in advance with the Eiffel Tower administration at the start of normal operating hours specifically to prevent inconvenience to other members of the public.

BAPS maintained that, to the best of its knowledge, no person was denied entry or access to the landmark during the visit. Nonetheless, the organization offered a sincere apology for any distress, hurt, or inconvenience caused by the unfolding situation.

Addressing the issue further, representatives from BAPS Paris stated that the group never intended to make a request rooted in gender bias. The Paris branch stated that any claim suggesting otherwise does not reflect the spirit, values, or purpose of the fellowship or the touring delegation.

The organization reaffirmed its dedication to universal principles of equality, mutual respect, and selfless community service regardless of gender, faith, or background, describing these tenets as fundamental to its worldwide teachings and philanthropic activities.

The controversy prompted sharp condemnation from the French national government, where Minister for Gender Equality and the Fight Against Discrimination Aurore Bergé described the reported exclusion of female workers as entirely unacceptable.

Bergé underscored that gender equality in France is non-negotiable and not open to variable standards or cultural exceptions, emphasizing that equal treatment under the law represents a foundational and unbending civic principle.

The walkout has resonated deeply in France, where secularism and gender parity are deeply entrenched in the national identity dating back to the French Revolution. Over the past century, feminist campaigns in France have driven major advancements in women's suffrage, workplace rights, and reproductive freedoms, culminating in France becoming the world's first nation to constitutionally protect abortion rights in 2024.

The fallout from the Eiffel Tower closure also made major headlines across India, generating widespread discussion on social media platforms where observers questioned why French administrators accommodated the purported request while expressing concern over the reputational impact on religious communities abroad.

The landmark visit was part of wider celebrations across France involving thousands of BAPS devotees, which included a community procession led by women and girls in the eastern suburb of Bussy-Saint-Georges and a major gathering of more than 5,500 international followers along the River Seine.

BAPS is widely known for building major, intricately designed temples worldwide, including the Swaminarayan Akshardham in Robbinsville, New Jersey—the largest Hindu temple in the United States—as well as the largest Hindu temple complex in the United Arab Emirates.