Paris Olympics medals production hit by strikes, protests

Paris 2024 Olympics medals are the subject of French strike action after workers at the country's national mint protested over pay ahead of the summer Games.

Already set with a piece of the Eiffel Tower, the medals for this summer’s Paris Olympics will now be infused with another quintessential feature of French life: strike action.

Dozens of workers at the French national mint, which is making the medals, are demanding the same “Olympics bonus” being paid to police officers and other government employees.

On Monday, around 50 workers demonstrated outside the mint and claimed that they had been able to disrupt medal production ahead of the Games, which start July 26.

“Stop the contempt!” the General Confederation of Labour union, or GCT, posted to X. “In this context of inflation, there is an urgent need to increase wages!”

The mint denied that production was affected for the roughly 5,000 gold, silver and bronze medals — each containing an 18 gram, hexagonal piece of iron taken from the Eiffel Tower.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/paris-olympics-medals-production-strikes-protests-rcna146961

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