The strike warning comes amid a heated controversy over the deteriorating state of some facilities and the theft of France’s crown jewels in October.
“There is such a level of exasperation that all indications are that conditions are ripe for a very strong strike,” stated Christian Galani, the representative of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) at the Louvre Museum, in an interview with BFMTV. The CGT, along with the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT) and the Solidary, Unitary, and Democratic Union (SUD), has called for the strike.
Galani stressed the need to “prioritize and establish a hierarchy of emergency measures that must be implemented,” emphasizing the need to focus “on the essentials, namely the dilapidated state of the building and the institution’s security.”
Additionally, the union leader highlighted that over the past 15 years, more than 200 jobs have been cut at the Louvre Museum, while visitor numbers have soared, making it the most visited museum in the world.
In this regard, Galani pointed out that the unions oppose the “differentiated pricing system” the museum will implement within a month, arguing that it “creates unacceptable discrimination between citizens of the European Economic Area and others.”
Starting January 14, the price for residents outside the European Economic Area will increase from 22 to 32 euros, a 45% increase.
This decision was defended by the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, who justified “visitors who are not from the EU paying more for their entrance and that this surcharge serves to fund the renovation of the national heritage.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture announced today in a statement that it has tasked the president of the public institution Rebuild Notre Dame, Philippe Jost, with a two-month mission to propose “the necessary measures and changes to address the identified challenges and strengthen the heritage of the world’s largest museum.”
Jost will operate under the supervision of the Louvre Museum president, Laurence des Cars, and in close cooperation with the museum staff and the Directorate-General for Heritage and Architecture at the Ministry of Culture. He is expected to present his initial recommendations by the end of February 2026.
This announcement came on the eve of the strike at the Louvre, which was called a day after it was revealed that on November 27, several hundred ancient books were damaged due to flooding caused by a pipe failure, whose state of decay was known, in the antiquities library.
On November 17, the museum closed an office space and, as a precaution, a gallery of Greek antiquities located below, after detecting issues of fragility in some beams of that area of the complex.
However, what generated the most controversy in recent weeks was the spectacular theft the museum suffered on October 19, where thieves accessed the Apollo Gallery via a freight elevator and took France’s crown jewels in broad daylight.
The four members of the gang were arrested, but the jewels were not recovered.
