Pros
The pay is very good and the benefits can't be beat. If you're not working in POTS or Fios, the work can also be very interesting at times. There are opportunities to work on special projects for important events .
Cons
Tensions between the union and management exceed all logic. To be fair, both sides are equally to blame. Management seems so intent on breaking the union, they no longer see that they have a great many employees who have an excellent wok ethic and merely wish to do their job without being made to feel the slightest misstep will lead to disciplinary action. As a union represented employee, merit counts for nothing at all unless one wants to leave the union and go into management. But quarterly layoffs have become the norm for management so most who might want to advance their careers won't the risk taking a job not covered by the union negotiated job protections. Seniority is the only path to the sought after craft jobs in the company. If you want to get into a high tech position, you often need 30+ years to do so. As for those in management jobs, the layoffs have gotten to the point of absurdity. When you go through a round of layoffs, those remaining must shoulder the burden. What the company seems to ignore is that after so many quarterly layoffs their management team is not simply taking on twice their former workload, but often up to eight or more times previous expectations! It's not sustainable by any stretch of the imagination.