Eiffel Tower shut by staff protest after women moved for religious visit
The mayor of Paris said an investigation would be launched into the incident, which left female employees "humiliated", according to a union representative.
**Eiffel Tower closed after staff protest over women being moved for religious visit**
A notice said the tower’s opening was delayed for "operational reasons"
The Eiffel Tower was shut on Monday after employees walked out in protest over female staff being moved aside for a visit by a Hindu religious group, according to workers and management.
About 100 people connected to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) group visited the Paris landmark on Saturday.
Staff union representative Diane Davoine said women were told to move when the delegation arrived at the monument.
"During the visit of this delegation, women were asked to leave their places of work in order to place men there," she told Reuters. Davoine also said management had since apologised to workers over the incident.
"So that absolutely does not go down well with the employees, with women obviously, who are all humiliated by what happened, by the way some were treated," Davoine said.
She added: "Tensions mounted over the weekend, so this morning, the employees decided to meet: first, to open a dialogue with management, and second, to ensure that women are never treated this way at the company again."
Société d'Exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SETE), which runs the monument in Paris, confirmed to AFP that the delegation had requested the visit be arranged to reduce "interactions with women".
The company told AFP that "these conditions should not have been accepted".
They added they "were not in line with SETE's values, nor with the principles of equality between men and women".
SETE president Ariel Weil said: "It is clearly not an acceptable practice.
"I restate the Eiffel Tower's commitment to republican values and to the equality of men and women."
The Eiffel Tower on Monday was closed after a staff strike over the visit
BAPS consecrated its first major temple in France on Sunday, in the suburbs of Paris.
In a statement on X, the BAPS temple in Paris said the trip was "arranged in conjunction with the Eiffel Tower team at the start of normal opening hours to avoid disrupting or inconveniencing others".
It apologised "for any pain or inconvenience caused", adding "we believe in the universal values of mutual respect and service".
On its website, BAPS describes itself as a "spiritual, volunteer-driven fellowship dedicated to improving society" through Hindu values.
It has temples in major cities around the world, including London, Los Angeles and Sydney.
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said there would be an investigation into the circumstances of the visit.
"I am taking note of the anger expressed by the employees of the Eiffel Tower, and I want to tell them that their discontent is legitimate," he wrote on X.
"Equality between women and men will never stop at the foot of our historical monuments, nor anywhere in this city. It must be applied everywhere, for everyone."
French hard-right leader Marine Le Pen said: "In France, we will never accept that the presence of women be 'limited'."
Former centre-right French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who has said he will run for the presidency next year, said: "In France, no culture, no belief, no worship, nothing nor anyone can come to dictate to women their place."
Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of France's National Assembly, said: "I refuse to allow women to be compelled to step aside in order to meet the demands of foreign visitors."