Louvre workers are voting on whether to extend a strike over understaffing, aging infrastructure, and security failures laid bare by a brazen crown jewels heist, piling pressure on museum leadership and the French Culture Ministry.
Louvre staff weigh extending the strike that shut the museum
PARIS — Employees at the Louvre Museum were set to vote Wednesday morning on whether to extend a strike that has shut the world’s most visited museum, as unions protest chronic understaffing, deteriorating buildings, and recent management decisions — grievances sharpened by a daylight crown jewels heist in October.
Workers were expected to gather for a general assembly to decide whether to continue the walkout, which was unanimously adopted earlier in the week. The Louvre was closed Tuesday for its regular weekly shutdown, leaving Wednesday’s vote as the key factor in determining when visitors might be allowed back in.
Staff shortages, rising prices, and aging infrastructure
Unions representing Louvre staff say frustration has been building for years over staff shortages, mounting workloads and an aging building in need of major repairs. They have also criticized a planned ticket price increase for non-European visitors, arguing that the museum is leaning on paying guests while failing to invest enough in the people and systems that keep it running.
The Louvre, which welcomes around 30,000 visitors a day in peak season, has struggled with water leaks, gallery closures and what workers describe as “increasingly deteriorated” working conditions. In recent months, a leak damaged hundreds of documents in the Egyptian department, and safety concerns prompted the closure of rooms in the Greek ceramics section.
Unions argue that the museum is at a breaking point: not enough guards and visitor-services staff to safely manage huge crowds, and not enough money going into long-delayed infrastructure and security upgrades.
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Jewel heist exposes deep security failures
Tensions escalated sharply after a brazen daylight robbery in October, when thieves stole eight pieces of the French Crown Jewels from the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery in less than eight minutes. Investigations later found that the gang exploited multiple security lapses, including a critical 30-second delay in raising the alarm and weaknesses in exterior surveillance.
The crown jewels theft, valued at around $100 million, shattered the museum’s aura of invulnerability and focused public anger on security failings that unions say they had been warning about for years. An official inquiry found outdated cameras, incomplete coverage and vulnerabilities that had been flagged in earlier audits but not fully addressed.
Louvre President Laurence des Cars has acknowledged an “institutional failure” in the wake of the heist and has faced renewed scrutiny after admitting she only learned of a key 2019 security audit after the robbery. Reports by France’s Court of Auditors and other oversight bodies have criticized long delays in implementing a promised security overhaul.
Culture Ministry offers concessions, but unions say it’s not enough
In an effort to defuse the crisis, Culture Ministry officials held emergency talks with unions on Monday. They proposed reversing a planned $6.7 million cut in the museum’s 2026 budget, opening new recruitment rounds for gallery guards and visitor-services staff, and increasing compensation for existing employees.
Union representatives called the offer a step, but not a solution. They argue that the scale of the problems — from security gaps to structural repairs — requires a much larger, multi-year investment and clearer guarantees on staffing levels.
The ministry has already announced emergency anti-intrusion measures and, in a sign of growing pressure on Louvre leadership, appointed Philippe Jost, who oversaw the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral, to help reorganize the museum and review its security and maintenance systems.
Senate hearing will put Louvre leadership in the spotlight
Wednesday’s Louvre strike vote is scheduled just hours before des Cars is due to appear before the French Senate’s culture committee at 4:30 p.m. local time, where lawmakers are continuing to probe security failures and management decisions leading up to and following the heist.
Senators have already heard testimony describing the museum as “the last bastion before collapse,” citing years of under-investment, staff cuts and missed opportunities to fix known vulnerabilities. Some have openly questioned whether current leadership can restore confidence in an institution that has become a symbol of both national pride and systemic fragility.
For now, the Louvre’s reopening depends on how its workers vote. If employees opt to extend the strike, the closure of the world’s most visited museum — and the debate over how to fix it — will drag on into the crucial holiday season, with millions of potential visitors left waiting at its famous glass pyramid doors.
Sources:
AP News – “Louvre workers vote to extend a strike as security scrutiny intensifies”
Reuters – “France’s Louvre museum remains shut as workers weigh strike extension”
