Planned Dec. 15 strike at France’s Louvre Museum adds to catalog of woes
PARIS — Staff at France’s Louvre Museum plan to strike from Dec. 15 over pay and conditions, the stoppage adding to a catalog of recent woes — including a spectacular jewel heist and a water leak that damaged ancient books — that have put the site’s management under intense scrutiny.
Representatives of three unions sent a strike warning on Monday to the Culture Ministry, an official of the Sud union, Elise Muller, said. She said whether the museum opened on Dec. 15 would depend on how many people heeded the strike call.
“This letter serves as a strike notice for all (Louvre) staff, for the night preceding 15 December 2025 and for the following days until the demands are met,” the strike warning letter said.
The unions said staff at the Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum, are overworked and mismanaged. They are calling for more hiring, pay increases, and a redirection of spending.
The Louvre Museum and the Ministry of Culture did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
The museum’s director, Laurence des Cars, has faced intense criticism since burglars made off with crown jewels worth an estimated $102 million in October.
Critics including the state auditor office have questioned the museum’s low spending on security and infrastructure maintenance while it made lavish purchases of new artwork, only a quarter of which is open to the public, and spent heavily on post-pandemic relaunch projects.
Ms. Des Cars has admitted security lapses at the Louvre and offered her resignation after the heist, which Culture Minister Rachida Dati turned down. Ms. Des Cars has spoken of her “disappointment and surprise” at the state of the Louvre when she moved there in September 2021 from the Musée d’Orsay — home of the French Impressionists.
Last month she announced the museum will install 100 external cameras by the end of 2026.
In mid-November, the Louvre had to close a gallery hosting Greek vases and offices as its structures, designed in the 1930s, showed weakness.
At the weekend, the museum reported a water leak which had damaged hundreds of ancient books in the Egyptian antiquities department.
“Staff… feel they are the last line of defense before its (the museum’s) collapse,” said the unions’ letter to the Culture Ministry.
The unions also oppose a 45% ticket price increase from mid-January for non-European Union tourists. The hike is meant to help finance renovations.
WATER LEAK
A water leak last month damaged hundreds of books in the museum’s Egyptian antiquities department, with specialist website La Tribune de l’Art reporting that around 400 rare books were affected, blaming poor pipe conditions. It said the department had long sought funds to protect the collection from such risks without success.
The Louvre’s deputy administrator, Francis Steinbock, told BFM TV on Sunday the water pipe leak concerned one of the three rooms of the library of the Egyptian antiquities department.
“We have identified between 300 and 400 works, the count is ongoing,” he said, adding the books lost were “those consulted by Egyptologists but no precious books.”
He acknowledged the problem had been known for years and said repairs were scheduled for September 2026. — Reuters
