While most of the union was divided into districts based on location, a separate district was created for workers at Wismut, the uranium mining company, and in 1950 this was split away to form the Wismut Industrial Union.
The union was also involved in sports associations, their names starting with "SV Aktivist".
[1] The union's membership continued to grow, and by 1989, it had 472,039 members, with about 325,000 in mining, 87,000 in energy, and 38,000 in water.
In April 1990, it became independent, and renamed itself as the Industrial Union of Mining, Energy and Water Management.
It suspended its affiliation to the FDGB in May, and in October it dissolved, most of its members transferring to the West German Union of Mining and Energy, although those in water instead joined the Public Services, Transport and Traffic Union.