Pros
I was at CIR for almost two years and left simply due to another opportunity falling into my lap. I had a terrific experience there. There was a lot of focus on my professional development, I had a large degree of autonomy and the members that they have are energetic and willing to learn about organizing. There were a lot of opportunities to try new things. I had a lot of support from other departments (legal, political, etc) whenever I needed it and a really healthy relationship with managers. Pay and benefits are near top of the market for union staff.
Cons
I was an outer regions staff (outer regions are MA, DC, FL and NM) and coordinating with the home office in New York can be challenging, but over the course of my time that CIR many improvements were made. Some of those challenges just come with working away from the main office and are part of the job.