Local government employees have a higher propensity to engage in collective bargaining than do private sector employees. Competition for scarce resources in the local budgeting process and the "battle of collective voices" among those requesting, paying for, and providing services provides the framework for this examination of the trend. Spengler concludes that the collective voice of taxpayer revolts of the 1970s and 1980s influenced employees in many local governments to pursue a collective voice strategy. Scholars, business practitioners, policy makers, and researchers in public administration, labor relations, public policy, and local government will find this study an important contribution to understanding the phenomenon of organized collective voice.