The Louvre museum was closed again Monday as staff continue their strike over pay and working conditions, three months after thieves stole crown jewels from the museum – footage of which was broadcast for the first time on French television Sunday night.
Louvre employees have been demanding better pay, more recruitment, and improved maintenance of the museum, and their strike action has shut down the museum several times since mid December.
Two previous strike days resulted in a loss of "at least one million euros" in revenue, according to management.
While nearly 140 new hires have been announced since start of the strike movement, and a meeting is scheduled at the culture ministry on Thursday to discuss salary increases, some union leaders remain critical of director Laurence des Cars.
Her management style, which has been described as remote and inflexible, has come under criticism.
"If we get the pay but continue with this governance model, we won’t be out of the woods," Valerie Baud of the CFDT union said.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who plans to step down soon as she is running for Mayor of Paris, said Sunday that "major decisions" on the Louvre would be coming soon.
"I reviewed the organisation, the governance," Dati said, answering a question put to her about Des Cars on France Inter radio and public television.
Des Cars offered to resign a few hours after the spectacular break-in on 19 October, which Dati refused.
Images of brazen heist revealed
Surveillance camera footage of the robbery was broadcast for the first time on French television Sunday evening.
The footage showed the two burglars forcing their way into the Apollo Gallery and slicing into display cases under the eyes of several staff members who do not intervene.
After breaking in through a reinforced window with high-powered disk cutters, they begin slicing into display cases.
Managers at the Louvre have stressed that staff are not trained to confront thieves and are asked to prioritise the evacuation of visitors.
Four suspects are in police custody over the robbery, including the two suspected thieves, but the eight stolen items of French crown jewels worth an estimated $102 million (€87 million) have not been found.
During the roughly four minutes that the two men were inside the gallery, one staff member can be seen holding a bollard used to orient visitors through the gallery, according to France Televisions.
The images, as well as multiple DNA samples found at the scene, form a key part of the ongoing criminal investigation into the robbery.
Metal bars have been installed over the windows of the Apollo Gallery since the break-in.
(with AFP)
