Pros
Decent pay, benefits, opportunity for advancement exists in the hourly ranks. They try to promote safe work practices. The workers and lower management have a good working relationship in most cases, and this is good because the upper management is pretty clueless regarding the operational aspects of the plant, and have no respect for the job experience, expertise, and indispensable value that people lacking college credentials bring to the operation. Conversely, many with college degrees, are totally worthless from a practical application standpoint.
Cons
Speaking for Massena Operations where I was employed, the seemingly endless revolving door series of transient plant managers kept the plant in constant transition mode for most of the last 20 years I was there, never seeming to settle on a consistent long term plan or vision, and trying to look as good as possible for their short tenure, and as a result, taking no interest in the long term viability of the operation which led to the extreme deterioration of the infrastructure of the plant buildings ie.... roofs, water/steam systems, electrical systems, roads etc... In addition, many health hazards exist. Dust is pervasive in most areas. This includes asbestos, carbon dust, silica, ore dust. Also hazardous is solvents, chlorine. diesel exhaust from the many vehicles running 24/7 indoors. In most cases management must be forced to take action. On another front, they like to force people to work overtime against their will, sometimes in excess of 60 hours weekly. Really not conducive to family life.