Eiffel tower staff strike over exclusion of women during Hindu group visit

The Eiffel Tower was forced to close on Monday, September 7, following staff strikes protesting the exclusion of female employees during a weekend visit by a delegation from the Bochanswasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), an influential Hindu spiritual group.

The union representative said that the women working at the Eiffel Tower were asked to leave their stations and were replaced by male colleagues while the delegation visited on Saturday, September 5.

Female employees were also told not to go to certain places while the group was there.

The BAPS group, which inaugurated its first temple in France last Sunday, has monks who pledge celibacy, hence cannot speak to or touch women. The group asked that the visit should be done in such a way that "interactions with women [are] minimized," according to the company running the tower, SETE.

The company said that "it should not have happened because it was not in line with the company's values and principles of equality of genders."

The strike led to the temporary closure of the world-famous tower, which faced a wave of condemnation by French politicians. "Welcoming others does not mean giving up our values," said National Assembly president Yael Braun-Pivet. "No culture, no belief, no worship can dictate to women their place," added former prime minister Gabriel Attal.

The Eiffel Tower re-opened on Tuesday after discussions between the staff and management of the tower. The mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Gregoire, said an investigation would be conducted to make sure that "this will never happen again."

Following the strike, BAPS also apologized for “any pain or inconvenience caused” but maintained that the visit was arranged with the tower team to avoid any disruption in regular operations.