France's Louvre Museum shut today as workers go on strike
The staff of the museum has reportedly called the strike over pay and working conditions, disrupting access to the world's most visited museum.
France's Louvre Museum will remain shut on Monday, December 15, as workers voted in favour of the strike. The call for the strike comes almost two months after French crown jewels were stolen from Paris's iconic museum in a dramatic heist.
News agency AFP quoted unions saying that the Louvre staff have voted to continue the strike.
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Earlier, news agency AFP reported that the museum security agent told visitors on Monday morning that the premises were shut.
What is the strike for?
The staff of the museum has reportedly called the strike over pay and working conditions, disrupting access to the world's most visited museum. In October, jewels worth 88 million euros were stolen from Louvre. It has also been hit by recent infrastructure problems including a water leak that damaged ancient books.
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The strike was called by the three unions -- the CGT, Sud and the CFDT -- after a staff meeting of around 200 employees "with unanimity", AFP reported.
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In a joint letter addressed to Culture Minister Rachida Dati, the unions had said that parts of the Louvre were being regularly closed because of "insufficient staff numbers as well as technical failures and the building's ageing condition".
The museum's deputy administrator, Francis Steinbock, said that an open valve in the heating and ventilation system had caused water damage to 300 to 400 journals, books and documents in the Egyptian department.
With inputs from agencies
