Strikes and a $100 million heist push the Louvre into historic crisis

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PARIS (AP) — The ongoing strike at the Louvre is no longer just a labor dispute. It has become a test of how securely, credibly and competently the world’s most visited museum is being run.

Behind the walkout are not only frayed labor relations, but a building itself under strain, with crumbling parts of the aging former palace now deemed unsafe.

At the heart of the crisis lies a deeper rupture: a $102 million jewel heist that exposed security failures at the core of the institution and transformed long-simmering staff grievances into a national reckoning.

Tensions were already rising when a wildcat June strike abruptly shut the museum, stranding visitors beneath I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid. Weeks later, the Louvre closed offices and a public gallery because of weakened floor beams, deepening concern about neglect across the centuries-old complex.

The October daylight robbery, in which thieves stole crown jewels, intensified scrutiny from lawmakers and auditors, reframing workplace complaints as questions of institutional failure.

Culture Ministry officials tried to defuse the standoff by proposing to cancel a planned 2026 funding cut, hire additional guards and visitor services staff, and raise pay, but unions rejected the measures as inadequate. They voted Monday to strike over chronic understaffing, deteriorating buildings and management decisions, and extended the action Wednesday for at least 24 hours.

The museum partially reopened Wednesday with a limited “masterpiece route,” granting access to the “Mona Lisa,” the Venus de Milo and a handful of galleries — a stopgap that came too late for some visitors.

“It’s our 20th wedding anniversary and we saved this for the next to last day,” said Rosh Disch, visiting from Destin, Florida. “This was probably going to be the highlight of our trip. I wanted to see the ‘Mona Lisa.’”

Carmen Garcia, from Valencia, Spain, had seen the “Mona Lisa” before, so the “masterpiece route” didn’t feel like much. “For a place this famous, it’s embarrassing to see it brought to its knees — especially after all those jewels were stolen.”

As pressure shifted squarely onto Louvre President Laurence des Cars, the ministry appointed Philippe Jost, the Notre Dame Cathedral restoration chief, to help reorganize the museum. It's widely read as a sign that confidence in the museum’s governance has been shaken.

French senators were told last week that thieves who stole crown jewels valued at more than $100 million escaped the Louvre with barely 30 seconds to spare, a detail that crystallized the scale of the breakdown.

A parliamentary inquiry described the Oct. 19 theft as a result of cascading failures. Only one of two cameras covering the break-in point was functioning, and security staff lacked enough screens to monitor footage in real time.

When the alarm finally sounded, police were initially sent to the wrong location, investigators said, a delay that proved decisive.

“Give or take 30 seconds, guards or police could have intercepted them,” said Noël Corbin, who led the inquiry.

Audits in 2017 and 2019 had already flagged vulnerabilities later exploited in the heist, but recommended fixes were never fully implemented.

All four suspected robbers have been arrested, but the jewels remain missing. Interpol has listed the pieces in its database of stolen art amid fears they could be broken up or smuggled abroad.

For staff now on strike, the Senate findings confirmed what they say they had warned for years: that the museum’s defenses were thin, its warnings unheeded, and its margin for error measured in seconds.

The heist has sharpened attention on the Louvre’s condition. Parts of the vast complex have been closed after officials discovered structural weaknesses, including nine rooms in the Campana Gallery devoted to ancient Greek ceramics. Technical reports cited “particular fragility” in supporting beams, forcing staff relocations and closures until further notice.

Unions say sections of the centuries-old building are in “very poor condition,” pointing to incidents such as a November water leak that damaged hundreds of historic books as signs of broader neglect.

President Emmanuel Macron’s “New Renaissance” renovation plan, launched in early 2025 to modernize the Louvre and manage overcrowding, includes expanded entrances and major upgrades. Critics say it has moved too slowly and focused too heavily on headline projects. A court audit flagged considerable delays in deploying modern security equipment and found that only a fraction of allocated funds had been spent on safety.