Paris Department Store La Samaritaine Closed Due to Protests
PARIS – Luxury department store La Samaritaine was shut in the midst of the last-minute Christmas shopping rush as protesters took over the sales floor Thursday.
Protestors affiliated with the General Confederation of Labor, or CGT, entered the premises Thursday morning when the store opened, about 10 a.m. local time, which led to the evacuation of customers “for security reasons.”
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A video posted on Twitter shows protesters pushing past the security staff to enter the store, chanting and waving the worker union’s flag.
The store remained closed the remainder of the day. CGT said about 200 protesters, wearing the union’s signature red vests, entered the store to demand wage increases and stood among the displays of luxury goods, according to AFP.
“The symbol of the class clash is immense, a luxury store whose products are inaccessible to the employees who work there,” stated the syndical organization after the protest.
“It is unfortunately the case for the entirety of the employees of the commerce and services sector who came to shout their anger and demand real wage raises,” it continued.
La Samaritaine reopened on Friday morning on its usual business hours.
Confirming the store had been closed on Thursday and that visitors and staff had been evacuated for security reason, the department store confirmed that protesters had “forced [its] entrance.”
It stated that the “near-entirety [of] these protesters were not employees of La Samaritaine” and that “the wage demands put forth were not connected” to the store.
La Samaritaine also indicated that its mandatory annual salary negotiations would begin in early January, as planned in a collective agreement signed with representative worker unions.
The iconic Left Bank department store, managed by luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s DFS arm, reopened in June 2021 after a 750 million euro revamp. It houses over 600 brands in two buildings across 215,000 square feet.
About 50 employees went on strike in November to lobby for a wage increase. Representatives for CGT said that many employees are on minimum wage and a commission structure, which remains low. Employees of the store are due to engage in mandatory salary negotiations with management beginning in January.
France’s inflation rate was 6.2 percent in October and November, the highest level since 1985. The annual inflation rate is running around 6 percent for 2022, lower than most other European countries.
The country has been rocked by protests going into the holiday weekend, with national rail carrier SNCF striking for wage increases and resulting in travel chaos.
La Samaritaine put on a massive window display for the holiday season including bringing members of the Opéra National of Paris and Théâtre du Châtelet for dance-themed displays. – with contributions from Lily Templeton.
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