This article describes a labor strike occurring in Paris that resulted in the Eiffel Tower being closed for 4 days as of February 22nd. Eiffel Tower workers went on strike due to the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel's (SETE) financial management leading to insufficient funds for necessary maintenance on the monument. The catalyst of the perceived lack of funds by workers is an increase in yearly royalties paid to Paris. Paris owns the Eiffel Tower and SETE pays a yearly fee to manage and operate the tower. This significant increase in the yearly fee after the company has faced a massive loss of revenue due to COVID left unionized workers believing the maintenance fees and salaries of employees may not be affordable in regard to the Eiffel Tower. Currently the tower is behind on required maintenance to prevent it from falling into disrepair. With the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games approaching in Paris, fears have arisen that this strike may spiral into a highly publicized labor dispute.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/world/europe/paris-eiffel-tower-closed-strike.html
It is crazy to see how COVID is still affecting the economy. Even with something as iconic as the Eiffel Tower, COVID still has pushed back that sector of the economy in so many ways that it has shut it down for 4 days in 2024.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me wonder how much revenue the Eiffel tower generates from tourism each year. If significant enough, I don't see why they city wouldn't just reinvest portions of the money into its maintenance. One would also assume that the fees for maintenance would vary depending on the required repairs and other upkeep.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the financial strain faced by the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) due to increased royalties to Paris and the impact of COVID-related revenue losses, led to a prolonged labor dispute jeopardizing the maintenance and operation of the Eiffel Tower, especially with the impending Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games?
ReplyDeleteWhat are your personal thoughts on this strike, do you agree with the workers doing this? I feel like it is justified, and one possible solution would be Paris recognizing this problem and reducing the royalties that are required to be paid.
ReplyDeleteI did not realize that COVID would be affecting a big business like this almost 4 years later. I was under the impression that COVID really only affected small businesses a lot, but it seems like these strikes are going to cause problems for the operation of the Eiffel tower.
ReplyDeleteWith extra tourism projected to enter Paris in 2024 how do you think this will effect the affordability of salaries and maintenance in the future? I would think that they would see a steep increase in revenue during the summer which could help relieve some of the conflict.
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