PARIS – Staff at the Eiffel Tower walked out on strike on Wednesday in a dispute over lengthening queues at the Paris landmark, forcing it to close during the peak summer tourist season.

Talks between the CGT trade union and the tower’s management over a new access system – which according to workers was responsible for “monstrous” lines of visitors – reached deadlock on Wednesday afternoon and the site closed at 4 pm (1400 GMT).

It was not clear whether the strike would continue on Thursday.

The new system, which from July has reserved separate lifts for different types of ticket-holders, was exhausting staff who had to deal with the frustrated tourists, union officials said.

The site’s management has said the summer months were always busy.

Each year over six million tourists go up the 1,063-foot tower, the French capital’s most famous attraction. </s> The Eiffel Tower closed to tourists on Wednesday afternoon after workers went on strike against management's decision to change the ticketing process, which resulted in long lines. File Photo by David Silpa/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 1 (UPI) -- The Eiffel Tower in Paris shut down on Wednesday afternoon after workers went on strike over ticketing changes.

The official Eiffel Tower Twitter account said the strike began at 4 p.m. and instructed visitors who had already purchased tickets to check their email accounts for further instruction.

"We are truly sorry for the inconvenience," the account wrote.

Gail Boisclair, a Cond√© Nast Traveler specialist and the owner and founder of the Perfectly Paris apartment rental service, said the strike began in response to a new access policy that resulted in long lines for tours of the tower.

The Eiffel Tower has two elevators, one for people who arrive without reservations and another for those who purchased their tickets in advance. In July, management increased the number of tickets available for advanced booking from 20 percent 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," Boisclair said.

The strike was officially scheduled for Thursday, but may continue until the issue is resolved.

"It's possible the tower will stay closed for a longer period of time," Boisclair said. </s> Eiffel Tower shuts down as employees strike over ticket plan

PARIS (AP) — Eiffel Tower workers have gone on strike over the Paris monument's new visitor access policy, which they say is responsible for inordinately long queues.

The website of the French landmark confirmed the strike Wednesday afternoon, but didn't specify how long it would last.

Since last month, the Eiffel Tower has been allowing half of its tickets to be booked in advance for scheduled entry times. Previously, pre-booked tickets accounted for around one-fifth of the entries.

Unions that represent the tower's some 300 employees have complained that the different ticketholders are being allocated separate elevators, saying this has created "monstrous" waiting times.

The Eiffel Tower had over six million visitors last year but has been beset by multiple strikes and security issues in recent years. </s> PARIS (Reuters) - Staff at the Eiffel Tower agreed to end their strike on Thursday evening, a union official said, meaning the monument will reopen on Friday.

The tower - Paris’s most famous tourist attraction - closed on Wednesday afternoon in a dispute over a new access system that workers said had caused “monstrous” queues.

Each year over 6 million visitors go up the 342-metre (1,063-foot) tower in the French capital. </s> Eiffel Tower workers have gone on strike over the Paris monument’s new visitor access policy, which they say is responsible for inordinately long queues.

The website of the French landmark confirmed the strike on Wednesday afternoon, but did not specify how long it would last.

Since last month, the Eiffel Tower has been allowing half of its tickets to be booked in advance for scheduled entry times. </s> The Eiffel Tower in Paris - closed since Wednesday afternoon due to a strike - will reopen to visitors on Friday, management and unions said on Thursday.

[PARIS] The Eiffel Tower in Paris - closed since Wednesday afternoon due to a strike - will reopen to visitors on Friday, management and unions said on Thursday.

The attraction was closed over a dispute about a new access policy which workers said had caused unacceptably long queues. </s> PARIS — Eiffel Tower workers have gone on strike over the Paris monument’s new visitor access policy, which they say is responsible for inordinately long queues.

The website of the French landmark confirmed the strike Wednesday afternoon, but didn’t specify how long it would last.

Since last month, the Eiffel Tower has been allowing half of its tickets to be booked in advance for scheduled entry times. Previously, pre-booked tickets accounted for around one-fifth of the entries.

Unions that represent the tower’s some 300 employees have complained that the different ticketholders are being allocated separate elevators, saying this has created “monstrous” waiting times.

The Eiffel Tower had over six million visitors last year but has been beset by multiple strikes and security issues in recent years.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Eiffel Tower workers have gone on strike over the Paris monument’s new visitor access policy, which they say is responsible for inordinately long queues.

Eiffel Tower workers have gone on strike over the Paris monument’s new visitor access policy, which they say is responsible for inordinately long queues.

The website of the French landmark confirmed the strike on Wednesday afternoon, but did not specify how long it would last.

Since last month, the Eiffel Tower has been allowing half of its tickets to be booked in advance for scheduled entry times.

Previously, pre-booked tickets accounted for around one-fifth of the entries.

Unions that represent the tower’s 300 employees have complained that the different ticketholders are being allocated separate lifts, saying this has created “monstrous” waiting times.

The Eiffel Tower had more than six million visitors last year but has been beset by multiple strikes and security issues in recent years. </s> The Eiffel Tower will reopen Friday morning at 9am local time, officials said late Thursday, after the iconic tourist attraction turned away visitors for a second day while workers continued a strike over long queues.

The iconic monument has been closed since Wednesday afternoon as unions argued with management over the lopsided lines stemming from a decision to reserve certain elevators for visitors with pre-booked tickets while those who buy them upon arrival languish in long queues.

Workers say the changes have resulted in uneven lines, some of which can extend to three hours for those waiting to buy tickets. Even internet customers who are supposed to have reserved time slots can wait for up to an hour.

The tower now also sets aside half of all daily tickets for internet customers, up from just 20 percent previously.

Staff want more flexibility in managing the thousands who arrive each day hoping to reach the top of the "Iron Lady" during the peak summer tourist season.

The tower's operator insists that lines haven't gotten any worse than before, even as visitor numbers have risen to more than 6.2 million tickets sold last year.

Many of the tourists showing up Thursday morning had no idea that the strike had halted visits, with signs saying only that the monument was closed.

"I'm annoyed, I'm not going to lie," said Robin Frye of Birmingham, England, who was visiting Paris for the first time.

"It's going to throw off our whole trip if I'm honest," she said.

"We got up at 6am and were among the first people here, but it's closed," said Adele Liliane, who arrived this week from Montreal, Canada.

>> Video: How profitable is the Eiffel Tower?

Negotiations resumed Thursday after workers held a general assembly in the morning to discuss a proposal offered by the site's operator SETE, which is majority owned by the city of Paris.

"The SETE is well aware of the disappointment for visitors because of the monument's closure, and its negative impact on the image of both the city and country," the company said in a statement.

"It offers its apologies to everyone – Parisians and French as well as foreign tourists."

The tower's 300-strong staff has staged strikes repeatedly in recent years over issues including pickpocketing and maintenance work. </s> The Eiffel Tower in Paris is to close on Saturday amid fears of further street violence from “yellow vest” anti-government protests.

Across France, 89,000 police officers will be on duty and armoured vehicles will be deployed in the capital, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced.

Police have urged shops and restaurants on Paris’s Champs-Elysees to shut and some museums will also be closed.

Paris saw some of the worst rioting in decades last Saturday.

The government has said it is scrapping unpopular fuel tax increases in its budget – the original trigger for the protests.

But broader discontent with the government has spread and protests have erupted over other issues.

What has the government said?

An official with the interior ministry told AFP news agency authorities were braced for “significant violence” on Saturday, with activists from both the far right and far left planning to converge on the capital.

In an interview with TV channel TF1, Mr Philippe said 8,000 police would be deployed in Paris as well as a dozen armoured vehicles.
• Who are the ‘gilets jaunes’?

He repeated an appeal for calm but added: “We are facing people who are not here to protest, but to smash and we want to have the means to not give them a free rein.”

Earlier, Mr Philippe suggested further concessions to protesters, telling the Senate that the government was open to new measures to help the lowest-paid workers.

How will Paris be affected?

The operator of the Eiffel Tower said the threat of violent protests on Saturday made it impossible to ensure “adequate security conditions”.

City authorities say they are stepping up protection for famous landmarks after the Arc de Triomphe was damaged last week.

Culture Minister Franck Riester said the Louvre and Orsay museums, opera houses and the Grand Palais complex were among sites that would be closed.

“We cannot take the risk when we know the threat,” he told RTL radio.

Police have asked stores and restaurants along the Champs-Elysees and other major shopping streets to stay closed and to remove any outdoor items such as tables and chairs.

A series of football matches have also been postponed on Saturday. They include those between Paris and Montpellier, Monaco and Nice, Toulouse and Lyon, and Saint-Etienne and Marseille.

What other protests have there been?

On Thursday young people took to the streets, protesting over education reforms.

More than 140 people were arrested when a protest outside a school in Mantes-la-Jolie in Yvelines ended in clashes with police. Dozens of other schools were blockaded in cities including Marseille, Nantes and Paris.

Students have been angered by President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to change the end-of-school exam, known as the baccalaureate, which is required for entrance to university.

Critics fear the reforms will limit opportunity and breed inequality.

Who are the protesters?

The “gilets jaunes” protesters, so-called because they have taken to the streets wearing the high-visibility yellow clothing that is required to be carried in every vehicle by French law, initially complained at a sharp increase in diesel taxes.

Mr Macron said his motivation for the increase was environmental, but protesters accused him of being out of touch.

The government later scrapped the plan but the yellow vest protesters were not placated. Last week, the movement – despite a lack of central leadership – issued more than 40 demands to government.

Among them were a minimum pension, widespread changes to the tax system, and a reduction in the retirement age.

The protest movement has gained momentum via social media, encompassing a whole range of participants from the anarchist far left to the nationalist far right, and moderates in between. BBC
The Eiffel Tower in Paris shuts down after workers go on a strike over ticketing changes.