San Francisco Frontiers - Louvre trade unions to launch rolling strike

It is unclear if the walk-out will close the world's most-visited museum, nearly two months after it was victim of an embarrassing daylight heist that saw crown jewels worth $102 million stolen.

"I can't guarantee that the institution will be closed. If they do open the museum, it will only be a partial opening, with a very, very limited route, just to say 'we’re open'," Christian Galani, from the hard-left CGT trade union, told AFP.

He said the strike, just as Paris is gearing up for the Christmas holidays, would have broad support across the museum's 2,200-strong workforce.

"We're going to have a lot more strikers than usual," Galani added. "Normally, it's front-of-house and security staff. This time there are scientists, documentarians, collections managers, even curators and colleagues in the workshops, telling us they plan to go on strike."

All have different grievances, adding up to a picture of staff discontent inside the institution, just as it finds itself in a harsh public spotlight following the shocking robbery on October 19.

Reception and security staff complain that they are understaffed and required to manage vast flows of people, with the home of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" welcoming several million people beyond its planned capacity each year.

A spontaneous walk-out protest on June 16 this year led the museum to temporarily close.

The Louvre has become a symbol of so-called "over-tourism", with the 30,000 daily visitors facing what unions call an "obstacle course" of hazards, long queues, as well as sub-standard toilets and catering.

Documentarians and curators are increasingly horrified by the state of disrepair inside the former royal palace, with a recent water leak and the closure of a gallery due to structural problems underlining the difficulties.

"The building is not in a good state," chief Louvre architect Francois Chatillon admitted in front of MPs last month during a parliamentary hearing.

Under-fire Louvre boss Laurence des Cars, who faces persistent calls to resign, warned the government in January in a widely publicised memo about leaks, overheating and the declining visitor experience.

- Security failures -

Questions continue to swirl since the break-in over whether it was avoidable and why a national treasure such as the Louvre appeared to be so poorly protected.

Two intruders used a portable extendable ladder to access the gallery containing the crown jewels, cutting through a glass door with angle grinders in front of startled visitors before stealing eight priceless items.

Investigations have since revealed that only one security camera was working outside when they struck, that guards in the control room did not have enough screens to watch the coverage in real-time, and that police were initially misdirected.

Major security vulnerabilities were highlighted in several studies seen by management of the Louvre over the last decade, including a 2019 audit by experts at the jewellery company Van Cleef & Arpels.

Their findings stressed that the riverside balcony targeted by the thieves was a weak point and could be easily reached with an extendable ladder -- exactly what transpired in the heist.

A.Clark--SFF