Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Employees of the Louvre museum in Paris went on strike Monday against unfair ticket prices, low staffing and poor building conditions, closing the museum.
The museum, the most visited in the world, has faced several crises in recent months, including a jewel heist and a damaging flood. The workers voted to strike on Dec. 8 over declining working conditions and crumbling infrastructure. The building was erected in the 12th century.
The daylong strike included about 400 of the 2,100 employees.
Union leader Yvan Navarro said the reasons for strikers' frustrations dated back years. "Wear and tear on employees, wear and tear on buildings, wear and tear on working conditions," Navarro told the New York Times, "these are things that happen over the long term, and the employees feel it and see it every day."
Last week, union leaders sent a letter warning of their plan to strike. They said the workers "feel that they are now the last line of defense before collapse." The letter said "the various internal warnings have gone unheeded," and that museum management has failed to create "sufficient awareness of the crisis we are facing."
