Europe Asia News

After several difficult months marked by a jewelry theft, a damaging water leak and safety concerns related to a gallery ceiling, the world’s most visited museum could face days of partial or full closure during one of the busiest times of the year, if the majority of its 2,100-strong workforce votes to continue the strike.

The museum has still not recovered from the impact of the theft on 19 October, when a four-member gang carried out a daytime raid, stealing French crown jewels worth an estimated 88 million euros in seven minutes before fleeing on motorcycles. Four people were arrested and a formal investigation was launched, but the jewels have not yet been recovered.

All three unions at the Louvre (CGT, Sud and CFDT) also announced a phased strike, saying: “Employees today feel like the last stronghold before collapse.”

The unions said the jewelry theft exposed long-standing difficulties, staff cuts and insufficient state investment at the museum, which welcomed 8.7 million visitors last year.

The unions stated that the Louvre’s decision to raise ticket prices by 45 percent for visitors coming from outside the European Economic Area, in order to generate revenue to finance structural improvements, is discriminatory.

Visitors from countries with the highest numbers of museum visitors, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and China, will be required to pay 32 euros for entry starting in January.