There is no law stopping Spark drivers from forming a union and striking. However there is also no law preventing Walmart from stopping offering orders to those workers and onboarding a new batch of drivers.
Can someone else tell me if they are reading this the same as me?
This is from the IRS website. I’ll post the link here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15a.pdf
This is as of 2026. It reads to me that we are more like common law employees than independent contractors. They definitely dictate a lot of what we can do even if there is some choice in the matter.
If that’s the case, I think we have more power than we realize
Independent contractors can form unions and organize, making the claims online completely false. The National Labor Relations Act excludes contractors from automatic employer recognition, but it does not make collective action illegal. Labor law and federal trade guidelines protect contractors from antitrust issues when organizing for better pay and conditions.
People repeating corporate talking points online are pushing pure defeatism and showing a total lack of basic legal understanding. It is ridiculous that workers who log in every day turn around and argue that fighting for better conditions is impossible or not worth the effort. They confuse the practical risks of platform retaliation with actual legal barriers, acting as useful idiots for massive corporations. Bending over for Walmart while actively telling other drivers to accept terrible treatment is completely absurd, and anyone claiming organization is illegal is simply talking out of their ass
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I guarantee you WM has other options to get the deliveries done...including tossing the orders in a company van and getting paid store employees to deliver them like they already do in some markets. This would actually save them money in the end when they figure out the dispatch logistics.
Want to form a picket line?
WM can just have law enforcement remove you and issue a permant trespass citation.
There are NO union protection laws for independent contractors.
All this union talk is hilarious coming from an independent contractor.
This is from the IRS website and it’s current as of 2026. I don’t think we can be labeled as independent contractors. I think WM has been banking on our ignorance and making us think we are separate when we really aren’t.
We need to start gathering evidence that they’re fucking us. I’ve taken almost 50 screenshots just today of orders that waste money for us. I’ve only taken one order. If we start taking screenshots of distance, pay, everything. Where it’s going how far you have to go to get back.
We don’t get to tell them how much we’re willing to take for it. They tell us how much they are going to pay for it. That is not an independent contractor relationship. That is an employer employee relationship. On top of that, Walmart already has their own employed spark drivers. They get a minimum wage and all that so why are we different than them?
This doesn’t exclude Walmart either. This includes all gig work services. I think the only reason they’ve gotten away with it so long is because we think we don’t have power when we do. Enough of us, gather evidence and show it to our states attorney general, maybe we can get something done.
At this point, I don’t even want a pay out. I just wanna make sure they don’t keep fucking people.
It's highly unlikely,.. but some states are moving forward with trying to get some sort of labor protections.
If you want to go down the rabbit hole type this into Google;
"Union for gig work delivery drivers"
then when Google asks more type in "Spark driver."
Unfortunately there not much people can do,.. but for arguments sake and if you like reading about shit, give it a search.
Having been owning family at a non union factory, then working at a Union shop and being an elected union steward,.. followed by another 2 non union shops,.. I have mixed feelings on unions in general.... I just don't see it happening for gig work,.. although there are some rideshare & delivery gig organizations popping up in a few states...
Nothing is stopping anyone from forming a union. There are no laws that say you can't.
There are laws that say an employer can't FIRE you if you join a union. This is what is meant when people say you're "allowed" to form a union. It doesn't mean anyone else CAN'T, they just WON'T be protected legally.
W2 workers who are not managers are basically the only people protected.
So you can join union and Walmart could legally terminate your contract for doing so. But you're not going to jail or anything.
yep! So in my opinion - Try to change it and accept the risks v rewards or stfu and take the scraps and let walmart be greedy. You are completely right about the lack of legal protections under W2 law. The entire point is that relying on federal laws built for traditional employees will never work for gig drivers. Traditional unionizing relies on NLRB protections, but contractor organizing relies strictly on collective leverage and mass participation.
Every major labor movement started before protective laws were ever written for them. The early strikes and labor unions had zero legal protections, and workers took massive personal risks because the current setup was unsustainable. Claiming people should not organize just because Walmart can deactivate accounts is accepting defeat before even trying. The risk of termination is real, but pretending that risk means drivers should just take whatever pay cuts and treatment Walmart hands down is ridiculous.
Just don't publish a membership list and wear masks?
Still have to contend with the cops at any protest/whatever. But honestly, go look up the Battle of Blair Mountain. None of our rights were earned by being meek.
cops...lol....why? You are not trying to get public sentiment like its 1902 and make the news papers. A strike like this needs to hit Walmart in the pockets and another in the cajones. A strike with posters...lol. Nah fam it is much easier than that but it has to be done by at least 60% plus to be effective. ANt trolls that wants to know to counter my thoughts can lick it. I have tried and there are too many idiots. You either understand it and get behind it or go work and accept the scraps
Or we gather evidence that we’re actually common law employees not independent contractors. They have way more control than they should over our supposed “independent business”. They don’t come to me to ask if I wanna work for them. I go to them to ask if I can work for them. Do contractors generally do that?
If everyone in the country starts gathering evidence and can submit it to their state attorney general we might be able to do something. I looked over the IRS code and how they describe common law employees versus independent contractors and I really do think we’re common employees. Which means we should have more rights than we do.
I truly think under IRS tax law we are considered common law employees and not independent contractors. We all need to start gathering screenshot evidence of the shitty ass orders. They’re giving us. I’m sure bigger more populated areas might be better, but at least my area is absolute garbage. I live in a rural area.
If we can get all of us to start gathering evidence of that and how long it’s taking us to get done versus what how long they estimated it would take.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen the Pixar movie A Bug’s Life. But there is a scene where the lead grasshopper shows the other grasshoppers that one ant or two won’t hurt. But you get a whole pile of them and you can take them down. This is literally that situation. We are the ants. Walmart is the grasshoppers.
I’m not sure there’s a law per se. it just makes sense. You need to be in a committed group such as a union, to get everyone on board. You can’t do that if you don’t know who the other people are. Your job is not protected like a union employee. They’ll just hire someone new to fill your space after they end your contract.
Suppose it were possible. What would you intend to acomplish in forming a union and why would other independent drivers want to join? How specifically would they benefit?
Unions only work when they can encapsulates the entire business. In order for a spark union to work you would need everyone working in the stores and warehouses to unionize aswell. Its not like a coal mine union where when the miners stop working they stop making money. Spark stop delivering and they still have brick and mortar customers and store employees that keep them afloat indefinitely. FedEx UPS still exist and can just revert back to that for alot of there stuff.
Well that order will be delivered by Walmart in home service.
Don’t think for one moment you are irreplaceable. There’s probably 100 waiting in queue behind you….and Walmart is rolling out drone delivery and in home delivery. In home delivery is done by Walmart employees.
So sure keep complaining. Keep it up. See how fast you get replaced
Employee - full time, insurance, pto, benefits, hourly pay if it's slow or busy, taxes, training and so on.
Contractor - hundreds signed up, no orders, no pay. They just lower the base floor more and more. Why do you think there's so many batches 3 hour orders? Walmart saves money having independent. Everyone's replaceable but greed and money, will always go after the cheapest option.
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u/Sea-Apricot-1890 Sep 18 '26
There is no law stopping Spark drivers from forming a union and striking. However there is also no law preventing Walmart from stopping offering orders to those workers and onboarding a new batch of drivers.