The Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM) was a radical organization of black autoworkers in Detroit, Michigan who were dissatisfied with working conditions at Chrysler and with the response of their union, the United Autoworkers (UAW). DRUM grew out of the Black Power Movement and began just a year after the 1967 riots in Detroit. Black autoworkers were frustrated by the limits on both their economic opportunities at the plant and on their power within their union. Although black autoworkers were employed in a relatively high-paying industry, they were kept in the lowest-paying and most dangerous jobs, they were not given opportunities for advancement into management, and were most often under the supervision of older white males. They also alleged that the UAW was a racist union because it focused only on winning pay increases and did not address the discrimination black workers faced. Black autoworkers were also aware that the UAW’s leadership was almost exclusively white and male.
Black Past: Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM)
