The Louvre Museum in Paris on January 12, 2026. MARTIN LELIEVRE / AFP
The Louvre Museum said Monday, January 19, it was shutting for the day, for the third time in a month, due to a strike by staff. "The museum is not opening today," said a spokesperson for the most-visited museum in the world.
Trade unions are pressing for more recruitment, pay and better maintenance of the vast former royal palace, and have launched several days of strikes in recent months. Nearly 140 new hires have been announced since the start of the strike movement in mid-December, and another meeting was scheduled at the Culture Ministry on Thursday to discuss salary increases.
Some union leaders were also contesting museum director Laurence des Cars' management style, which they view as remote and inflexible. "If we get the pay but continue with this governance model, we won't be out of the woods," Valérie Baud of the CFDT union told AFP.
"There may be announcements, but we are still dealing with a management that digs its heels in and doesn't recognise that it can sometimes be wrong," added her colleague Elise Muller from the SUD union.
