The Science Museum is facing a backlash from staff over its sponsorship deals with fossil fuel companies, which have already led it to be shunned by segments of the scientific and education communities.
An internal staff survey found that two thirds of employees working at its London site and 54 per cent of workers in the wider organisation disagreed with its “decision making on public programmes, sponsorship and partnership”.
The survey, conducted by the Prospect union last year, also found that almost half of the Science Museum employees who took part said their satisfaction and wellbeing at work had been affected by the deals.
The Tate, the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Theatre have all ended sponsorship deals with energy companies in recent years, faced with a backlash from charities and campaigners.
Climate protests outside the Science MuseumShutterstock Editorial
But the Science Museum, which receives about £65 million a year from the government, has appeared notably unrepentant, despite the furore.
The Science Museum’s deals in recent years with the Indian energy company Adani, which sponsors its climate change gallery in London, as well as BP, Equinor and Shell led to the departure of trustees and a boycott by some teachers and scientists. The deals with Equinor and Shell have ended.
One former staff member who took part in the survey said there was widespread frustration at the partnerships, which had been “imposed from above with no way to contest them”.
They said: “There was a lot of frustration regarding the relationships that were being maintained, which were bound up with the wider question of oil and fossil fuels but with Palestine also being very prominent.
“There was a sense among some staff that the museum was tarnishing its legacy and certainly making it difficult for people to promote its work.”
The museum, which also has sites in Manchester, Leeds, County Durham, Bradford and Swindon, has taken a lot of flak in particular over its relationship with Adani, an Indian conglomerate with interests in coal and oil that was also accused of supplying arms to Israel that had been used in Gaza.
Isobel Tarr, a co-director of Culture Unstained which has campaigned against the influence of fossil fuel companies on the country’s museums, said it was “inconceivable” that the Science Museum could “continue to let the wellbeing, pride and morale of its staff be impacted so severely by its Adani sponsorship”.
She said: “There’s no excuse for exploiting the staff who keep the museum running and help to hold our culture sector together.”
The Science Museum, which is chaired by Sir Timothy Laurence, the husband of Princess Anne, said a large majority of its employees had not taken part in the survey and said it was impossible to draw conclusions from the questions asked. About a third of its 1,000-strong workforce completed it.
“As a charity and part-public funded institution, we rely on donations from the public, philanthropic gifts and sponsorship from companies to help achieve our mission of engaging the public with science and inspiring the next generation. External funding is helping transform our five museums, creating inspiring, free spaces where millions of visitors can engage with science,” a museum spokesman said.
Noel McClean, Prospect’s deputy general secretary, said the survey “highlighted what is the case across the whole sector that museums are underfunded, and the people who deliver our heritage are chronically overworked and underpaid.”
He added: “Our members are also clear that more engagement from senior management on strategic decisions would be to everyone’s benefit going forward.”