Forum Post: Aspen Art Museum bans Occupy Leader

Aspen Art Museum Forbids Leader of Occupy Aspen to Enter Property By Michael H. Miller 12/16/11 11:17am

Galerist NY

Topic: Aspen Art Museum.

Lee Mulcahy, an artist and the leader behind the Occupy Aspen movement, has been told by police that he can no longer set foot on the site of the future home of the redesigned Aspen Art Museum. Museum officials told the Aspen Times that Mr. Mulcahy had “replaced museum signs with his own signs,” posting “for sale” signs on trailers on the property. Mr. Mulcahy denies this, though he admitted to posting different signs at an earlier time. Police have not charged him with anything, but an Aspen police officer did have this to say: “I made it very clear to Mulcahy that he was not allowed to return to the Art Museum property or else he would be arrested for trespassing, and Mulcahy told me that he understood and would not go onto the property again.”

Aspen, a wealthy town popular with celebrities as a vacationing destination, is not really the place where one would expect people to be big fans of the shenanigans of the 99 percent. Occupy Aspen, by the way, sounds like a pretty humble affair. Mr Mulcahy refers to the movement in the Aspen Times as “all 8 of us.”

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http://www.galleristny.com/2011/12/aspen-art-museum-denies-leader-occupy-aspen-12162011/

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20120101/NEWS/111229875/1077&ParentProfile=1058

No. 3: Lee Mulcahy Former ski instructor Lee Mulcahy didn't win his job back from Aspen Skiing Co. in 2011, but he definitely managed to get under the skin of Skico officials and force them to make changes to the structure of their ski school.

Mulcahy's fight with his former employer went public back in Thanksgiving 2010 when his complaint to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) leaked. Mulcahy claimed he was fired for complaining about Skico policies and taking preliminary steps to form a union for ski instructors. Skico officials claimed Mulcahy was fired for multiple violations of company policy.

The NLRB found Mulcahy wasn't fired in retaliation for his actions. However, it also found while examining his claims that wording in Skico's personnel manual violated federal regulations. Language on conflicts of interest regarding employees who criticize the company in public had to be eliminated. Skico was also required to provide notice to all employees from the 2010-11 season that they have the right to form, join and assist a union.

Mulcahy considered the NLRB decision a victory even though he didn't get his job back. “People can talk about wages,” he said in July. “They can talk about job conditions and not get fired.”

He predicted that change will eventually lead to formation of a union. Skico officials dismissed his claims as delusions of grandeur. They said employees always had the ability to talk about job conditions without fear of getting fired.

NLRB investigators also said Skico had to dismantle its committee system in the ski school, a structure that had been in place for about 20 years. Advisory boards that work on issues such as benefits, training and safety can be influenced and intimidated by Skico appointing management representatives as members, the labor board ruled.

Skico changed the system but won't discuss the alterations with anyone outside the company.

Mulcahy was a former golden boy in the ski school. He started teaching skiing in 1997-98 and became one of the top instructors. He was a member of the elite “Diamond Pro” club of high-performance instructors.

Mulcahy started criticizing Skico leadership and its owners, the Crown family of Chicago, in 2010 for some of their actions. He contended that rookie instructors and other entry-level employees weren't paid a living wage. He leveled stinging criticism on Skico managing partner Jim Crown and his wife, Paula, through a barrage of letters to the editors of local newspapers and with an unflattering sculpture erected as part of a public art display in Aspen in August. In one regard, Mulcahy was ahead of the Occupy movements that protest the actions of the wealthiest 1 percent of the world's population.

During his very public fight with Skico, Mulcahy passed out information critical of the company's pay scale while visiting Skico property, such as The Little Nell hotel and Silver Queen Gondola Plaza. The Skico banned him from all its property and warned he would be prosecuted for trespassing if he pressed the issue. The ban stands but Mulcahy vows he won't be silenced by Skico.

— Scott Condon