Louvre Museum Shutters as “Exhausted” Staff Go on Strike 

Thousands of visitors to the Louvre Museum in Paris were stuck in hours-long lines outside the institution today, June 16, when the museum shuttered for part of the day due to an unplanned staff strike.

The spontaneous work stoppage, which involved gallery attendants and reception and security workers, focused on claims of poor working conditions exacerbated by overcrowding and a staff shortage. It came after French President Emmanuel Macron announced earlier this year that the Louvre will undergo a major decade-long upgrade that would address a slew of problems including water leaks, deteriorating infrastructure, and worsening crowd congestion that have long plagued the museum.

The Louvre, which typically opens at 9am, remained closed to the public until 2:30pm, a museum spokesperson told the New York Times. A message on the Louvre’s website alerted visitors that “the museum may open later.” It is unclear which workers returned to work. Per its typical operating hours, the Louvre will be closed to the public on Tuesday and reopen on Wednesday.

“We didn’t plan to go on strike, but the people are so exhausted, they can’t support the conditions getting worse and worse,” Christian Galani, a representative for the C.G.T.-Culture labor union, told the Times.

Hyperallergic has requested comment from the Louvre, CGT-Culture, and the Ministry of Culture.

As with many other European cultural sites and institutions, overcrowding is one of the chief issues encumbering the French museum. Last year, the Louvre received 8.7 million visitors — 77% of whom were from countries outside of France. In 2023, the museum’s management announced it would cap daily visitors to 30,000.

The sweeping renovation aims to address the climbing visitor rates by creating an independent gallery space for the “Mona Lisa” (the museum’s most popular artwork that attracts swarms of visitors daily) and adding more entrances; however, exasperated museum workers have vocalized that the project’s timeline for completion is too far in the future.

“Our teams are under pressure now. It’s not just about the art — it’s about the people protecting it,” Sarah Sefian, a spokesperson for the General Confederation of Labor-Culture (CGT-Culture) union representing museum workers, told the Associated Press.