Louvre Signs Deal with Unions, Ending Threat of Continued Strikes

As nationwide protests continue to loom across France, with the next action planned for Saturday, October 31, at least one social grievance has been addressed at the country’s top museum. On Thursday, the Louvre in Paris signed an agreement with unions who had threatened to strike for months, reports Le Figaro and AFP.

“The signature of the agreement amounts to a positive step for the Louvre,” a museum representative told AFP.

A few months after last year’s daytime robbery at the Louvre emptied the museum of over $100 million worth of its crown jewels, a broad coalition of French unions went on strike and, until this week’s deal, had pledged to continue protesting over poor working conditions, insufficient personnel, and the handling of museum renovations. The strikes began in December and forced the museum to close entirely for a total of four days and partially for another four days. Meanwhile, unions maintained an official “notice” to continue protests as needed, signaling they were not backing down and could block the museum at any time. All told, the dispute with unions is one of the longest face-offs of its kind for the Louvre.

As part of the new deal, the Louvre pledged to hire 50 new security personnel in 2027, or about 100 new hires in total by 2028, according to Le Quotidien de l’Art and other French reports. Additionally, the museum will improve pay for certain categories of workers, including a €50 ($56) monthly raise for security staff.

“The more of us there are carrying out our surveillance duties, the more we will deter criminals from targeting our institution,” Christian Galani, a representative of the French union CGT, told AFP.

The museum is in the throes of raising funds for an over one-billion-dollar renovation that will include security upgrades, the preservation of its aging infrastructure that has fallen into disrepair, and a separate, new entry and gallery dedicated to the Mona Lisa. However, there is disagreement about the cost and scope of the major renovation, and union representatives want a say in how it is handled. “We will quickly ask for a meeting on the management and prioritization of the construction works. We still have very little visibility on the safety and security plan announced in November 2025,” Alexis Fritche, leader of the CFDT-Culture union, told Le Quotidien de l’Art.

Following the crown jewel theft a year ago, Louvre president Laurence des Cars stepped down amid staff criticism that she used a top-down management style and ignored their concerns about the building’s disrepair and lack of personnel, while spending on projects they considered lavish. The arrival of the museum’s newly appointed president, Christophe Leribault, seems to have calmed some of those tensions.