louvre-museum-remains-shut-after-workers-vote-to-extend-strike

Hundreds of visitors in long queues awaited outside France’s famous Louvre Museum on Wednesday, which remained closed after its employees voted to extend a strike.

Union workers have been protesting chronic understaffing, building deterioration and recent management decisions. Problems are said to have aggravated after a brazen crown jewels heist in October at the world’s most-visited museum.

The decision to extend the strike came during a morning general assembly, after workers had adopted the walkout unanimously earlier this week, said sources. 

While the museum was already closed on Tuesday for its regular weekly shutdown, it remained unclear whether the strike would force a full closure on Wednesday. The management is said to be currently assessing staffing levels and whether enough employees were available to safely open galleries.

On Monday, the country’s Culture Ministry officials held crisis talks with unions and proposed to cancel a planned USD 6.7 million cut in 2026 funding, open new recruitment for gallery guards and visitor services and increase staff compensation. 

 

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But with tensions having risen by fallout from the theft of crown jewels during a daylight robbery that exposed serious security lapses at the museum, the ministry’s measures fell short, said union officials.

Louvre President, Laurence des Cars, who has acknowledged an “institutional failure” following the heist, was scheduled to appear before the Senate’s culture committee later Wednesday as lawmakers continue probing security failures at the museum.

Des Cars has come under renewed scrutiny after admitting she only learned of a critical 2019 security audit after the robbery with France’s Court of Auditors and a separate administrative inquiry criticising delays in implementing a long-promised security overhaul.

The Culture Ministry also announced emergency anti-intrusion measures last month and assigned Philippe Jost, who oversaw the Notre Dame restoration, to help reorganise the museum. The move was widely seen as a sign of mounting pressure on Louvre leadership.