In re the Claims of Sprague

Appeal by the Industrial Commissioner from a decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board which in effect reversed the decision of a referee. The issue is whether claimants were barred from benefits for a period of 7 weeks because they lost their employment “ because of a strike, lockout, or other industrial controversy” (Unemployment Insurance Law, § 592, subd. 1; Labor Law, art. 18). The work involved was at a United States air base at Plattsburgh, New York. The Federal officials, as an economy measure, terminated heating contracts with two prime contractors and replaced the union…