Strike shuts Eiffel Tower after female staff hidden during religious visit

The group, known as BAPS, is a worldwide religious and civic organisation within the Swaminarayan sect, a branch of Hinduism. It has been holding celebrations to mark the inauguration of a traditional Hindu stone temple in the French capital.

The Eiffel Tower reopened Tuesday after a strike to protest what a union official called “unacceptable” management instructions limiting the presence of women ended.

The Eiffel Tower reopened Tuesday, a day after one of the world's most-visited landmarks was closed by a strike to protest what a union official called "unacceptable" management instructions limiting the presence of women during a visit by a Hindu delegation on Saturday.

The Paris landmark reopened Tuesday following a staff strike.

Female Eiffel Tower employees were asked to step out of sight during a visit by a ​Hindu religious delegation at the weekend, according to union representatives, sparking a staff protest ‌and an investigation by authorities.

Female employees at the Eiffel Tower were asked to step out of sight during a visit by a ​Hindu religious delegation at the weekend, according to union representatives, prompting a staff protest ‌and an investigation by Paris city authorities. A delegation of about 100 ​people…

Staff members at the Paris landmark said that female employees had been instructed ‘to make themselves invisible’ to welcome a BAPS delegation.

The iconic Parisian landmark was closed on Monday because of a strike by staff over the removal of female colleagues during a visit by a Hindu religious group.

Paris authorities and the Eiffel Tower's operator have ordered inquiries into the incident.

The operating company that runs the Paris landmark, SETE, acknowledged that the Hindu delegation had requested the visit be organised so as to limit "interactions with women"

The employees protested against the removal of the site's female workers due to a request by a visiting Hindu group. The tower's operating company apologized for the decision.

“As the delegation ‌passed ⁠through, women were asked to leave their workstations so that ⁠men could take their places,” Diane Davoine, a union representative, told Reuters.

The dispute stemmed from a private visit on Saturday by around 100 members of a group whose representatives were in France for festivities related to the inauguration of a Hindu temple.

Women were told to vacate workstations during a tour by a conservative religious group.

Eiffel Tower closes amid row over women staff sidelined during Hindu groups visit