The Louvre Museum will remain closed this Wednesday as employees voted to extend a strike protesting what unions describe as increasingly “untenable” conditions at the world’s most visited museum.
The action comes at a particularly sensitive moment for the Paris landmark, which is still reeling from the high-profile jewel heist on 19 October.
Staff representatives cited a growing list of concerns, including chronic understaffing, deteriorating infrastructure, worsening working conditions and plans to raise ticket prices for visitors from outside the European Union.
The Culture Ministry had sought to ease tensions by announcing several measures, including the cancellation of a planned €5.7 million cut to the museum’s funding in 2026, the launch of targeted recruitment for visitor services and security staff, and a pay adjustment.
Unions, however, argue that these commitments fall short, calling instead for long-term guarantees on staffing levels and compensation.
Earlier this week, around 400 employees had already voted unanimously in favour of strike action.
On Monday, the museum closed its doors, leaving visitors, some of whom had travelled long distances during the busy end-of-year period, to learn of the disruption upon arrival.
The ongoing strike has further weakened the museum’s leadership at a time of intense scrutiny. Louvre president Laurence des Cars is due to appear once again before the Senate’s culture committee later on Wednesday, as lawmakers examine security failings exposed by October’s theft.
Shortly after the robbery, des Cars acknowledged a “failure” in security during a Senate hearing, while defending her record and stating that work on the museum’s security master plan had been accelerated.