10.2190/AC1R-131J-5B3X-0X76 AC1R131J5B3X0X76 0 PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNIONS--THE POLITICAL IMPERATIVE 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=AC1R131J5B3X0X76 4 MICHAEL MARMO This article examines the political nature of municipal public employee unions by looking at the activities during the 1960's of three unions representing workers of the City of New York: The Uniformed Sanitationmen's Associations; Transport Workers Union; and the Social Service Employees Union. Three generalizations emerged about their political activity: 1) each believed that since it operated in a political context it must have an effective political organization; 2) each union had or tried to develop an organization to maximize its political effectiveness; 3) the extent to which each was successful in developing political "clout" greatly affected its collective bargaining goals.