The Eiffel Tower reopened on Tuesday after staff walked out in protest over the removal of female employees during a visit by members of a Hindu religious organisation, which later apologised, AFP reports.
Visitors were passing through security checkpoints at the foot of the Paris landmark shortly before 9:30 am on Tuesday, according to an AFP journalist at the scene. The Eiffel Tower’s website also confirmed that the monument was “open today.”
The landmark was closed on Monday, September 7, after employees went on strike over instructions that female staff should step aside during a visit by members of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a global Hindu organisation headquartered in Ahmedabad, India.
According to employees, female workers were sidelined, replaced and instructed not to enter certain areas while the delegation was present.
The Eiffel Tower’s operating company, Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), acknowledged that the delegation had made the request but said such conditions were unacceptable and inconsistent with the monument’s commitment to gender equality.
France’s Minister for Gender Equality and the Fight Against Discrimination, Aurore Bergé, described the reported incident as “unacceptable.”
“In France, gender equality is neither negotiable nor subject to varying standards. It is a principle, and there are no exceptions to it,” Bergé said in a post on X.
BAPS later apologised for the incident, according to AFP.
Thousands of Hindu devotees associated with BAPS have taken part in events and processions across France in recent days, according to the organisation’s website.
The Eiffel Tower resumed normal operations on Tuesday following the one-day closure.
AFP
