Pros
The best training for electricity on the planet. All the training during the 5 year apprenticeship is worth college credit and all you have to do is take 3 additional classes at Daley college and you have an AAS degree. The pay is astonishingly high, well over forty dollars an hour on the paycheck plus an absurd amount for benefits, I really don't see how any contractor can make a profit when we get paid more than triple the non-union wage.
Cons
There isn't enough work so Local 134 is basically a high paying temp agency. You're LUCKY if you work 9 months out of the year. You are not allowed to look for your own job so when you get laid off (and you will) you have to go to the bottom of an out of work list, this list has had over 1,000 people on it since 2008 so you are looking at a 2+ year wait till your number is called. Contractors know that most people would do anything to stay off the list, or "book" as we call it, so they take advantage of good workers. Contractors big and small will ask you to "sit" for weeks or months at a time without working and your only other option is to sign the book (2+ year wait) they will also ask you to work for cash and take cash for overtime, if you call the all mighty union and tell on them or even say no, the contractor will lay you off and you go to the bottom of the book. (contractors do not have to lay people off in the order they were hired) If you're a good worker they will work you to death and then ask you to sit, if you're old or slow you might last a week till it's back to the hiring hall to sign the book.