Pros
Interesting work environment seeing steel being made, never boring. Great opportunity for motivated engineers to make improvements. Great opportunity to learn technically (mechanical engineering and metallurgy), and inter-personally. Good work/life balance (straight 40 hr weeks), flexible start/stop times. Colorful people. Opportunity to work with the entire range of the business operations. Decent pay with bonuses based on production.
Cons
Huge "us vs. them" mentality between union and company workforce made cooperation on anything difficult. Felt a little like living in a dysfunctional family made up of too many teenagers. Siloed operations with poor cooperation between melt shop, rolling mill, quality, and logistics. Lots of finger pointing between operations. Limited technical ladder.