Some of France’s most prestigious cultural institutions were closed on Wednesday as staff went on strike to vent their fury over government plans to cut jobs and costs.
Unions said around 20 museums, art galleries and public monuments had suffered either total or partial closure as public sector workers downed tools over what they described as an attempt to “dismantle and destabilize” France’s flagship cultural sector.
The Musee d’Orsay, home to the world’s largest collection of Impressionist paintings, shut its doors after a staff vote in the morning. The Musee Rodin, famed for its sculptures and exquisite gardens, was also closed. The Pompidou Center has been subject to industrial action since last week.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Across France state-run institutions were affected and unions warned the strike might continue today.
Lines at the Louvre were unusually short as news spread that the whole of its second floor had been closed off. The Arc de Triomphe was shut, and Notre Dame and the Chateau de Vincennes were also affected.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to trim the country’s state-run cultural services by cutting jobs and controlling budgets as part of wider attempts to cut public spending.
But the unions have warned that France’s reputation as a cultural powerhouse and the world’s No. 1 tourist destination could be destroyed by the changes.
They claim plans to replace only half the number of retiring employees as of next month could leave national treasures with skeletal workforces unable to protect or showcase their collections.
They also say that reductions in state funding are leading to a more aggressive form of “business-driven” cultural policy in which profitability trumps artistic value.
“Now every time we put on an exhibition we have to think about how much money we can make from it,” said Didier Alaime, the national secretary of the CGT union’s culture branch.
Tourists were left bewildered by the closure of some of the capital’s leading attractions. Rob Ainsley, a journalist from London who had come over specially for the art, said: “I’m very disappointed. I feel like I’ve been cheated out of it.”
Yolanda Espinoza, from California, standing outside the Musee d’Orsay, said her family had missed out on “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
“We have spent a lot of money on this holiday,” she said.
She had been looking forward to showing her 13-year-old daughter the wonders of French culture.
French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand, who has been put in charge of pushing through the controversial restructuring, met union representatives on Wednesday afternoon for a meeting that had been scheduled since before the industrial action.
Depending on what — if anything — he offered, Alaime said, staff were to vote again yesterday on whether to pursue or abandon the strike.
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