Detroit labor activist Martin Glaberman estimated at the time that the Hamtramck plant was 70 per cent black while the union local (UAW Local 3), the plant management and lower supervision, and the Hamtramck city administration was dominated by older Polish-American workers.
Although it did not win, the new organization drew notice for its militancy and willingness to challenge the UAW hierarchy.
The "Revolutionary Union Movement" form of organization spread to other Detroit plants: including FRUM (Ford Revolutionary Union Movement) at the Ford River Rouge Plant, and ELRUM (Eldon Avenue Revolutionary Union Movement) at the Chrysler Eldon Avenue plant.
Auto workers had created an independent organization, but opinions differed about DRUM's future mission.
Many members had been fired, and those who stayed often joined other currents in the union reform movement, such as the United National Caucus.