Staff at the Louvre museum in Paris staged another strike on Monday, January 19, the ninth such action in a month, forcing the museum to close completely for the third time since mid-December. The strike, voted unanimously by 350 employees, concerns pay, working conditions, and infrastructure, with unions demanding salary alignment with other national museums and monuments, and calling for the €666m new entrance project to be dropped in favor of basic maintenance. The closure costs the museum about €400,000 per day, and negotiations with France's culture ministry are scheduled for January 29.
This strike wave matters because it intensifies pressure on embattled director Laurence des Cars, whose management style is under scrutiny following a series of damning reports on redevelopment plans and the dramatic theft of the crown jewels in October. Curators have petitioned against the removal of a department head, and sources suggest des Cars' days may be numbered. The Louvre's financial losses and labor unrest highlight deep institutional tensions between ambitious renovation projects and staff welfare, with implications for one of the world's most visited museums.