PARIS — ongoing strike at the Louvre This is no longer just a labor dispute. It was a test of how securely, securely and competently the world's most visited museum is run.
Behind the strike is not just frayed labor relations, but the building itself is under strain, with crumbling parts of the aging former palace now deemed unsafe.
At the heart of the crisis lies a deeper divide: $102 million a jewel heist that exposed security failures at the very core of the institution and turned long-simmering staff grievances into a national reckoning with global resonance.
Tensions were already rising when Wild June strike abruptly closes museumtrapping visitors under I.M. Pei's glass pyramid. Weeks later, the Louvre announced the closure of offices and a public gallery due to weakening floor beams, heightening concerns about the neglect of the aging complex.
October day robbery as thieves stole the crown jewels, increased scrutiny by lawmakers and auditors, and reframed workplace complaints as issues of institutional failure.
Culture Ministry officials have tried to defuse the standoff by proposing to reverse funding cuts planned for 2026, hire additional security and visitor services staff, and raise wages. Unions have rejected the measures as inadequate, signaling that trust has been damaged and does not require quick solutions.
On Monday, the CFDT union said 400 workers at a meeting voted to strike over chronic staffing shortages, dilapidated buildings and management decisions. Workers voted on Wednesday to extend the action, forcing the Louvre to operate on a limited basis.
The museum partially reopened a limited “masterpiece route,” allowing access to the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and several galleries, a temporary measure that allowed visitors inside while highlighting how far normal operations had gone.
Now the pressure has shifted directly to the president of the Louvre, Laurence de Cars. The ministry announced emergency measures to prevent incursions and appointed Philippe Jost, who oversaw the restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral, to help reorganize the museum. The move is widely seen as a sign that confidence in the existing governance has eroded.
Last week, French senators were told that thieves who stole more than $100 million worth of crown jewels fled the Louvre with only 30 seconds lefta detail that clearly defined the scale of the accident.
A parliamentary inquiry described the Oct. 19 theft as part of a cascade of failures. Only one of the two cameras covering the break-in scene was working, and security staff did not have enough screens to monitor the footage in real time.
When the alarm finally sounded, police were initially sent to the wrong location, a delay that proved crucial, investigators said.
“Give or take 30 seconds, security guards or police could have intercepted them,” said Noel Corbin, who led the investigation.
Audits in 2017 and 2019 had already identified vulnerabilities that were later exploited in the heist, but the recommended fixes were never fully implemented.
All four suspected robbers have been arrested, but the jewelry is still missing. Interpol included the art in its database of stolen art due to concerns that it could be broken or smuggled abroad.
For employees now on strike, the Senate findings confirmed what they said they had been warning about for years: The museum's defenses are weak, its warnings go unheeded, and the margin for error is measured in seconds.
The robbery drew attention to the state of the Louvre. Parts of the huge complex were closed after officials discovered structural deficiencies, including nine rooms in the Campana Gallery dedicated to ancient Greek pottery. Technical reports cite the “particular fragility” of the support beams, which is leading to staff relocation and plant closures until further notice.
Unions say parts of the centuries-old building are in “very poor condition,” pointing to incidents such as a November water leak that damaged hundreds of history books as signs of wider neglect.
President Emmanuel Macron's “New Renaissance” reconstruction plan launched in early 2025 to modernize the Louvre and combat overcrowding, it includes widened entrances and extensive modernization. Critics say the project moved too slowly and focused too much on major projects. A forensic audit found significant delays in the deployment of modern security equipment and found that only a fraction of allocated funds had been spent on security.
The proposal to give Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa a separate room with a separate entrance was intended to ease the crush of the crowd. Instead, it has become a symbol of what workers see as misplaced priorities.
Backed by Macron, the plan will separate the painting from the State Hall to improve visitor flow. Supporters say this reflects the reality of mass tourism, with most visitors coming to see the Mona Lisa in the first place.
Unions counter that the project highlights a fixation on blockbuster attractions while staffing shortages, decaying infrastructure and safety gaps persist. They argue that money earmarked for modernization could be better spent on repairs, upgrading surveillance systems and staffing on the front lines. Some also fear the move could open the door to tiered access or higher prices.
Former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez told senators this week that he believed the museum's security plan was sufficient and he did not want to take personal responsibility for the failures exposed by the robbery.
Martinez, who headed the Louvre from 2013 to 2021, said he was “shocked, shocked and hurt” by the robbery and insisted security was a priority during his tenure. Lawmakers pressed why vulnerabilities identified in previous audits, including one at Galerie d'Apollon in 2019, were not addressed.
He acknowledged delays to a wider €54 million security overhaul, with contracts “expected to start in 2022”. When told that his successor later considered the plan incomplete, Martinez replied: “I thought the plan was sufficient.”
