The strike at the Center Pompidou extended until February 15

The union representatives of the Center Pompidou, which must close for five years from 2025 for work, have extended their strike notice until February 15, we learned from the inter-union (CGT, CFDT, FO, Unsa , SOUTH) Thursday.

The staff of the establishment, also called Beaubourg and which houses one of the most important modern and contemporary art museums in the world as well as a library very popular with students, fear for their future. They are asking for guarantees on the maintenance of the employment ceiling and the non-outsourcing of their missions during the closure of the place, inaugurated almost half a century ago and which must remain closed until 2030 for important asbestos removal and restoration work.

Some of them have been on strike since October 16, causing 20 days of closure of the Center Pompidou, which has been closed daily since the start of the Christmas school holidays, management told AFP. These closures, she underlines, have “impacted” attendance at all of the temporary exhibitions scheduled since the fall, including the major Picasso exhibition. Drawing to infinity, offered since October 18 and until January 15.

Nearly a thousand drawings, prints and sketchbooks by Picasso, including exceptional portraits of his companions Françoise Gilot and Dora Maar, are brought together over more than 2000 m2, during a thematic tour in 50 chapters, echoing the 50 years since the death of the sacred monster of painting.

A new general staff meeting is planned for January 11, the inter-union said in a press release. A new meeting with management, demanded by the unions since December 21 as well as “a real timetable for negotiations”, had still not been set on Thursday but was planned “in the coming days”, according to management.