At the beginning of December, 31 of the 176 employees sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Science Policy Thomas Dermine (PS), who has political responsibility for the federal museum. A copy went to Arnaud Vajda, the president of Belspo, the government body responsible for coordinating science policies at the federal level.
The open letter refers to “mismanagement” of the museum. The signatories deplore that part of the permanent collection is still hidden in the reserves and denounce the lack of “a clear vision”. They also report regular threats, intimidation and harassment. The working conditions are described as “appalling” and the signatories believe that the management does not coordinate enough the projects for which it is nevertheless responsible. Unrealistic programs and targets would also be imposed.
All this seriously affects the staff and the number of cases of exhaustion, burn-out and departures increases. Over the past two years, five employees are said to have left, five others have been made redundant and six have fallen into burnout.
A consultation committee is scheduled for Monday.