The Eiffel Tower has reopened to visitors after a six-day strike by employees demanding changes to the landmark’s business model and better maintenance of the 330m (1,083ft) structure, which is showing widespread traces of rust.
The tower’s operator said in a statement it had reached an agreement with unions “under which parties will regularly monitor the company’s business model, investment in works and revenue through a body that will meet every six months”.
It added that both sides had also agreed to “an ambitious €380m (£325m) up to 2031” towards maintenance and renovation of the 135-year-old attraction, which is visited by up to 7 million people a year and will feature prominently in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The operator, SETE, which is 99% owned by the city of Paris, has also launched pay negotiations that are expected to be concluded in March. It apologised to ticket holders and said they would be reimbursed if they were affected by the strike.
The stoppage was the second in three months. Unions maintain SETE is “heading for disaster” because its business model is based on an over-estimation of future revenue from ticket sales and an underestimation of escalating maintenance and repair costs.
Stéphane Dieu, of the CGT union, said the company was pursuing “short-term profitability”. He also criticised plans by Paris city hall to nearly treble the slice of the tower’s ticket revenues that it takes each year to €50m (£43m) from 2025.
“There are numerous areas of corrosion, symptoms of significant disrepair,” Dieu told FranceInfo radio. “She’s a 135-year-old lady, she needs a step up in terms of repairs. Given city hall’s plans, it’s hard to see where that investment will come from.”
France’s culture minister, Rachida Dati, suggested last week that the tower, which was built for the 1889 Paris world fair and was only ever intended to last 20 years, be classified as a “historical monument” to allow the state to help fund works.
Denis Vavassori, another CGT member who works at the attraction, said paint was falling off the tower and rust spreading. “I’ve worked here for 21 years and I’ve never seen it in such a state,” he said. “The more time goes by, the bigger the repairs will need to be.”
Gustave Eiffel, the structural engineer whose company built the tower, recommended that the tower be repainted roughly every seven years. However, the current 20th repainting campaign, begun in 2019 – a decade after the previous one was completed – has been significantly delayed.
The pandemic, and high levels of lead in previous coats, meant only 3% of the paint that was meant to be stripped in this repainting round had actually been removed, Vavassori said, and 70% of the actual repainting remained to be done.
While several recent reports have identified areas of concern, experts insisted the tower is safe. “The iron we’ve uncovered so far is in an exceptional state of conservation,” said Pierre-Antoine Gatier, the historic buildings architect in charge of the repaint.
Gatier said patches of rust pointed out by employees and visitors were “strictly superficial” and “in no way affect the solidity” of the 18,000-odd iron bars that make up the tower.
“We all want the tower to be magnificently preserved,” he said. “It’s the image of France, and the image of Paris. It’s essential for all of us.”
