"This could last several days, and above all, we hope not to have to go on strike during the Olympic Games," warned Denis Vavassori, the CGT (hard left) union representative for workers at the Eiffel Tower's operating company (SETE). The tower will not open for its usual 365 days over 2024, as between "150 to 200" of the SETE's 360 permanent employees went on strike on Monday, February 19, resulting in the monument's closure.

The tower's workers, who had previously gone on strike on December 27, the CGT and FO unions have denounced, among other things, the increase in the amount paid each year by the SETE, a local public company, to its majority shareholder (99%), the City of Paris. The Eiffel Tower's financials have deteriorated in recent years, due first and foremost to the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the monument being closed for extended periods – the SETE registered €130 million in lost ticketing revenue. In 2023, the tower returned to a satisfactory level of attendance, with 6.3 million visitors.

The strikers have also expressed concern about the state of the monument, despite the exorbitant costs involved. The tower hasn't been repainted for fourteen years – compared with the usual seven – and some of the work on it has fallen behind schedule, generating €120 million in additional costs, due to inflation and the discovery of lead. "We've barely completed 30% of the painting campaign, which has cost 85 million, when the base budget was 50 million. There's rust, unrenovated elevators, sparkling that won't be renewed, etc." the CGT representative listed.

Faced with these difficulties, the company was recapitalized to the tune of €60 million by the City of Paris in 2022, and loans were taken out. The trade unionist has highlighted this situation in the light of further losses to come, which would be incurred by an increase in the fee paid by the SETE to the City of Paris: It has already risen from €8 to €16 million from 2021 to 2022, and is expected to reach around €50 million per year in the years to come.

"This represents half of the SETE's annual budget when we already have a lot of work to do," said Vavassori. To curb this increase, the price of tickets is also set to rise by 20%. This continuous increase in the fee had already been planned since 2016. Through their protest actions, the strikers have been hoping to influence the arbitrations involved in the public service delegation, the contract that binds the SETE and Paris City Hall over the 2017-2030 period.

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