Workers go on strike at five-star Paris hotel where IOC members are staying for Olympics

abcnews.go.com:

Workers have gone on strike at the five-star hotel in Paris where members of the International Olympic Committee are staying

Workers went on strike Thursday at the five-star hotel in Paris where members of the International Olympic Committee are staying, walking out just a day before the opening ceremony of the Games.

According to the major French union CGT, the IOC paid the hotel where staffers were striking, Hôtel du Collectionneur, 22 million euros ($23.88 million) for exclusive use of the facility.

The Paris division of the CGT posted a video on social media appearing to be from inside the hotel, showing around a dozen staff lining a corridor. Employees held signs reading, “No 13th month, no Olympics!," “Luxury hotel, poverty wages” and “Give us back our social benefits." Many companies in France pay their workers a bonus in December known as the “13th month."

The CGT said the employees were demanding a pay increase, having not received a raise for seven years. The strike comes after a fifth round of negotiations failed Wednesday.

A woman who answered the phone at Hôtel du Collectionneur said the business declined to comment.

Although a dividend of over 9.5 million euros ($10.3 million) was given to shareholders this year, the union says the hotel has made no attempt to improve the financial situation of its staff.

In a separate protest, around 200 performers stood along the Seine River on Monday and refused to take part in a rehearsal for the opening ceremony being held Friday, protesting working conditions and inequality in the treatment of entertainment workers at the Paris games.

The protests come as tensions run high following recent legislative elections, putting France on the brink of a governing paralysis —