Louvre workers vote to strike in another blow to the Paris museum

PARIS (AP) — Workers at the Louvre Museum voted Monday to strike over working conditions and other complaints, dealing another blow to the Paris landmark and home of the Mona Lisa after an embarrassing jewelry heist in October.

The CFDT union said the vote was taken at a meeting of 400 workers on Monday morning and that they decided to strike for the day.

The world’s most-visited museum didn’t open as scheduled and turned people away. A notice on the Louvre's website said “the museum is closed for the moment.”

“It's really sad, because I was really looking forward to this,” said Lindsey Hall, a bitterly disappointed would-be visitor from Sacramento, California. She had been planning to enjoy the museum's huge collection of art and artifacts with a friend, describing it as “one of those life experiences you crave.”

“This is just an epic collection of art and something that every human should see," she said. “I can see the other side of it, like if you are the person that works in the museum and how that can be, like day after day after day."

The strike vote followed talks last week between labor unions and government officials including Culture Minister Rachida Dati. Labor leaders said the talks had not alleviated all of their concerns about staffing and financing for the museum that welcomes millions of visitors each year.

“Visiting the museum has become an obstacle course,” said Alexis Fritche, general secretary of the culture wing of the CFDT union.

For employees, the daylight jewel heist crystallized long-standing concerns that crowding and thin staffing are undermining security and working conditions at the Louvre.

Thieves used a basket lift to reach the Louvre’s facade, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with pieces of the French crown jewels. A Senate inquiry released last week said the thieves escaped with barely 30 seconds to spare and pointed fingers of blame at broken cameras, outdated equipment, understaffed control rooms and poor coordination that initially sent police to the wrong location.

In a statement, the CFDT said employees wants more staffing for security and to welcome visitors, improved working conditions, stable long-term budgets for the Louvre and leadership that “truly listens to staff.”

Yvan Navarro of the CGT union complained that staff numbers have continually decreased while visitor numbers have increased.

“People come to Paris to visit the museums. So the visitor numbers go up, the tariffs and the prices go up, because everything is becoming more expensive but the salaries and the numbers of staffers don't go up so obviously you reach a point like today, a day of anger.” he said.

Workers display a banner reading "Louvre on strike" outside the Louvre museum after they voted to strike for the day over working conditions and other complaints, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Workers display banners at an entrance of the Louvre museum after they voted to strike for the day over working conditions and other complaints, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Workers display banners outside the Louvre museum after they voted to strike for the day over working conditions and other complaints, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

People stand by the pyramid of the Louvre museum as workers at the Louvre will vote to go on strike or continue talks with the government after months of mounting pressure on the world's most visited museum, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Visitors leave the Louvre museum shortly before workers at the Louvre voted to strike for the day over working conditions and other complaints, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Workers display an union flag outside the Louvre museum after they voted to strike for the day over working conditions and other complaints, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A board advises opening delays outside the pyramid of the Louvre museum as workers at the Louvre will vote to go on strike or continue talks with the government after months of mounting pressure on the world's most visited museum, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

FILE - A carpet at Le Louvre museum, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

FILE- People walk by an entrance of the Louvre museum, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva, file)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A gunman in Texas opened fire on a crowded bar in Austin's busy nightlife district over the weekend before being fatally shot by police in an attack that authorities were investigating as a potential act of terrorism.

The shooting early Sunday killed three people and wounded more than a dozen others. The suspect was wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and the words “Property of Allah," a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

The mass shooting happened after the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Iran. The FBI and Austin police said they were still looking into the motive behind the shooting, which sent people in the bar and surrounding streets scrambling for cover.

Here's what to know about the shooting:

Police said the gunman drove past Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden before circling back and firing the first shots from his SUV at people on the sidewalk and inside the bar early Sunday.

Some college students dove for cover while others were motionless inside the bar and across the street next to a food truck, trying to understand what was happening.

The shooting stopped for a moment. The police chief said the suspect parked, got out with a rifle and began shooting at others before officers rushed to the intersection and shot him.

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis identified two victims as 21-year-old Savitha Shan and 19-year-old Ryder Harrington. Austin Police announced Monday evening that 30-year-old Jorge Pederson had died from his injuries.

Harrington joined the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Texas Tech University in 2024, the fraternity said in an Instagram post. Shan’s LinkedIn profile listed her as a dual-degree student majoring in management information systems and economics at the University of Texas.

The bar is on Sixth Street, a nightlife destination filled with bars and music clubs near the flagship campus of the University of Texas system. The school is one of the nation's largest universities with 55,000 enrolled students.

Nathan Comeaux, a 22-year-old senior, spent the evening there with friends and said the bar was “full of college students, probably mostly UT kids, shoulder to shoulder, hundreds just enjoying their nights.”

Some of those affected included “members of our Longhorn family,” University President Jim Davis said, using the name of the school's mascot.

Police taped off several square blocks around Sixth Street after the shooting. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and other federal investigators joined local police at the scene.

Both the FBI and police in Austin said Monday that it’s too soon to identify the motive.

Police identified the gunman as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne. The gunman legally bought the pistol and rifle he used in the attack several years ago in San Antonio, the police chief said.

Diagne was originally from Senegal, according to multiple people briefed on the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

He first entered the U.S in 2000 on a B-2 tourist visa, becoming a lawful permanent resident six years later after marrying a U.S. citizen, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Associated Press reporters on Monday were unable to reach Diagne’s family members in the Austin area or his ex-wife, who recently was listed as living near San Antonio. A person who answered the door at a house listed for his ex-wife declined to comment and told a reporter to talk with investigators.

The entertainment district has a heavy police presence on weekends, and officers were able to confront the gunman within a minute of the first call for help, the police chief said.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson praised the fast response by police and rescuers.

“They definitely saved lives,” he said.

Comeaux, the UT Austin senior, filmed the suspect as he walked toward Buford's with his gun pointed at officers, and officers fired at him.

“The shooter was walking towards where I was and towards where the bar was, where there could have been 10 times as much damage if he’d gone back to the bar where hundreds of students were hiding,” Comeaux said. “So I’m just very grateful for the heroic police officers who were able to stop the suspect.”

McAvoy reported from Honolulu. Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Alanna Durkin Richer, Eric Tucker and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed.

The Austin Police Department and the FBI investigate a shooting at Buford's on 6th Street on Sunday, March 1, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Jack Myer)