In addition to increasing militancy and revolutionary consciousness in the Black working class movement, the conditions of the trade union movement in Detroit, and particularly in the auto industry, played a significant role in the creation of the LRBW. During the intense labor shortages as a result of WWII, Black workers were hired in significant numbers, particularly in the auto industry. While there was a union in the auto industry, the United Auto Workers (UAW), most Black workers felt alienated from the union's majority white leadership and perceived the union in the same vein as the government and the bosses for its failure and outright refusal to meaningfully take up the growing concerns of Black workers in the auto industry.