As of 4 p.m. today local time, the Eiffel Tower is closed due to a workers' strike. This isn't the first time a strike has shuttered the city's most popular tourist attraction, which saw 6.2 million visitors in 2017. Initially, the strike was slated for Wednesday, August 1, but was postponed to Thursday while union members negotiate with management, reports 20 Minutes, a free newspaper in France. Here's what we know: What's this whole thing all about? Lines, for the most part. There are two lines at the Eiffel Tower, and they each lead to different elevators. One line is for people who have booked their tickets months in advance, and the other is for visitors who arrive sans reservation. Originally, only 20 percent of tickets were available for advance booking on the Eiffel Tower's website, but in July, management changed that number to 50 percent. "The workers don't understand why, in non-peak hours, the people in the line without pre-booked tickets cannot use the lift for the people with a reserved time slot, since it will sometimes be going up only partially full while there is still a huge queue at the other lift," says Gail Boisclair, a Condé Nast Traveler specialist and the owner and founder of Perfectly Paris. How long will the Eiffel Tower stay closed? As of now, the strike is still slated for Thursday, all day, but if there's no resolution after the day's strike, says Boisclair, "it's possible the tower will stay closed for a longer period of time." What do you do if you've already booked a ticket? Check your email: Eiffel Tower management teams are contacting people who bought tickets in advance to let them know of their options. Are the lines really that much worse? Some sightseers who arrive without a ticket reservation say so—Reuters reports some waits were up to three hours to get a ticket and into the elevator. Steamy temperatures in the city—which have hovered around 100 degrees Fahrenheit—don't help the situation. (A spokesperson for Eiffel Tower management said wait times for visitors without a ticket are the same as last year, reports Le Parisien.) Has the Eiffel Tower been closed because of strikes before? Oui. Workers struck in 2013 over security and working conditions, and again in 2015 over pickpocket concerns, reports The Independent. I'm in Paris. What else can I do? So glad you asked. This is a developing story. Please keep checking back for more updates.<doc-sep>To improve the performance of our website, show the most relevant news products and targeted advertising, we collect technical impersonal information about you, including through the tools of our partners. You can find a detailed description of how we use your data in our Privacy Policy. For a detailed description of the technologies, please see the Cookie and Automatic Logging Policy. By clicking on the "Accept & Close" button, you provide your explicit consent to the processing of your data to achieve the above goal. You can withdraw your consent using the method specified in the Privacy Policy.<doc-sep>Staff at the Eiffel Tower have gone on strike in protest against a new access policy they say is generating “monstrous” queues of tourists. Access to the Parisian monument, which welcomed more than 6 million visitors last year, was blocked from 2pm GMT, according to a sign at the base of the tower. The site’s management said staff had taken action after talks with unions broke down earlier on Wednesday afternoon. The site was not evacuated, and tourists already inside were allowed to finish their visits. Staff are angry over a decision last month to start setting aside half of the Eiffel Tower’s daily tickets for people who buy them in advance online and schedule a time for their visit. Only 20% of tickets to go up the 324-metre (1,063ft) “Iron Lady” could previously be booked ahead of time. The tower’s management has also started reserving specific lifts for each type of ticket holder, a move that “creates lines that are at times monstrous and often lopsided,” the CGT union said. During off-peak times for pre-booked tickets, such as the early afternoon, the reserved lift might be half empty despite queues of up to three hours for walk-in visitors. High demand at the lift for pre-booked ticket holders also means people have to wait long beyond their scheduled visit time. Hector had travelled from Monterey, Mexico, with his wife and children for their first trip to France, and was just about to reach the lifts when the doors shut. “We’ve been here for two and a half hours, waiting for nothing,” he said. “We will take a look for tomorrow, but we will need to buy another ticket,” he said, because pre-booked tickets will only be reimbursed, not exchanged for another time slot. “Employees’ patience has run out,” the CGT’s Denis Vavassori said on Monday, adding that many visitors were unhappy with the long waits. Staff want all lifts to be available to all visitors, no matter what kind of ticket they have bought. SETE, the company that runs the site, says it sells 10,000 online tickets for the tower each day and that “the waiting time is very short”. “For visitors who come without tickets, the waiting time at the checkouts at the foot of the Eiffel Tower is exactly the same as last year, while the number of visitors has increased,” it said. The tower has been hit by repeated strikes by its 300-strong staff in recent years over issues ranging from pick-pockets to maintenance work.<doc-sep>T he Eiffel Tower has been forced to close as employees at the Paris monument went on strike over long queues. One of the most famous landmarks in the world was closed at 4pm after staff agreed to walk out over booking procedures that staff claim have created “monstrous” waiting times. From last month, the Eiffel Tower has allowed half of its tickets to be booked in advance. However unions that represent the tower’s 300 employees have complained that different ticket holders are being allocated separate lifts, increasing waiting times. Lifts allocated for visitors who have pre-booked have at times empty while walk-in customers have seen waits of around three hours to gain access to the elevators. One tourist told FRANCE 24: “This has to be the Frenchest story of them all. The Eiffel Tower is on strike.” Visitors to Paris took to Twitter to share their disappointment. Ivana Jovicic wrote on Twitter: “My life’s a joke. Wait 21 years to go to Paris and the f****** Eiffel Tower is closed.”<doc-sep>
The Eiffel Tower closed to the public on Wednesday afternoon as staff went on strike over how to organise tourists visits to the monument. Advertising Read more Staff from the Eiffel Tower operating company, SETE, are protesting how visits to the iconic Parisian monument are organised, complaining of the sometimes "monstrous" queues that form for the popular tourist attraction. Negotiations to avoid a strike that would halt public visits to the Tower were suspended on Wednesday, according to a union source contacted by AFP. A general meeting will be held in the late afternoon to decide on the length of the strike. Since early July the monument has set aside half of daily tickets for people who buy them in advance on the internet and choose a scheduled time for their visit. Previously just 20 percent of tickets could be booked ahead of time. But the tower's management has also decided to reserve specific elevators for each type of ticket holder, a move which "creates lines that are at times monstrous and often lopsided", the CGT union said in a statement. During off-peak times for pre-booked tickets, such as early afternoon or evening, the reserved elevator might be half empty – and yet there may be lines of up to three hours at the other elevator, which allows walk-in visitors. James André reports from the Eiffel Tower High demand at the pre-booked elevator can cause backups that force people to wait long beyond their scheduled visit. "Beyond the waste in terms of efficiency, and the unhappy visitors ... employees' patience has run out," said the CGT's Denis Vavassori. He said that the problem was not that 50 percent of tickets are now pre-booked, but that all visitors should be allowed access to the same elevators in order to better manage the flows. He said management has refused to budge, however. "We're not talking about a failure ... there's just an adjustment that needs to be made," Vavassori said. Disappointed tourists milled about near the Tower's base on Wednesday. "This has to be the Frenchest story of them all," one told FRANCE 24's James André. "The Eiffel Tower is on strike." LAST MINUTE INFORMATION : Due to a strike, the Eiffel Tower is closed since 4:00 pm (16h00). Visitors with tickets, please check your mailbox for further information. We are trully sorry for the inconvenience. pic.twitter.com/oTpHFrXYFH La tour Eiffel (@LaTourEiffel) August 1, 2018 The tower, which welcomed more than six million visitors last year, has been hit by repeated strikes by its 300-strong staff in recent years over issues ranging from pick-pocketing to maintenance work. SETE said that the last lift is scheduled for 4pm local time Wednesday. After that time, visitors will not be able to climb the stairs to the top but those who are already inside will be able to stay as long as they wish. The Eiffel Tower is one of the most visited sites in the French capital, with 6.2 million visitors in 2017. (FRANCE 24 with AFP) Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning Subscribe