The Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors on Wednesday after workers went on strike ahead of contract negotiations with the city of Paris. The strike coincided with activities planned to mark the centenary of the death of the tower's creator, Gustave Eiffel.
An Eiffel Tower spokesman told The Associated Press that the tower is open 365 days a year, except during occasional strikes, and it was not clear when it would be open again.
About 800 employees work at the tower daily and 6 million people visit it each year, making it the most visited memorial in the world, according to the group that runs the memorial, SETE.
A pre-recorded music program marking the death of Gustave Eiffel, who died on December 27, 1923, was scheduled to be broadcast on French television on Wednesday evening.
The union said in a statement that workers in the tower were protesting “the current way it is managed,” and said that the company operating it was “moving toward disaster,” according to Agence France-Presse.
