SETE apologised to ticket holders and said they would be reimbursed for bookings impacted by the action, which resulted in the loss of some 100,000 admissions.

The powerful Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) union said that staff had decided to strike over SETE’s business model, which it claimed was based on an inflated estimate of future visitor numbers, and an underestimation of the cost of maintenance and renovation.

Stéphane Dieu, speaking on behalf of the union, accused SETE of seeking profitability in the short term.

Strikers have also expressed concern over the state of the monument, which Le Monde reported had not been repainted for 14 years, rather than the usual seven, with other repair work falling behind schedule.

This week’s strike was first planned to take place across five days, but CGT on Friday announced that staff had voted to extend the strike to Saturday after rejecting SETE’s initial proposal.