The only way to get a non merit raise is by getting a promotion and taking on more work. A 3% yearly merit raise does not match the yearly inflation rates and you will be losing money consistently every year. Company consistently forces teams to work understaffed. All while adding more and more work/customers over the years. with no additional compensation for the additional work load for the very same job. Tech support II, does on call rotation and if you are short staffed that means you are on call more often. No over time is given for additional calls taken overnight. If engineering is short staffed or overworked, lots of things that should be a DBA or a Dev job get pushed to support as they see you as a work horse with unlimited extra time on your hands. Its a bit like a firehouse, you are either super busy putting out fires or you have downtime you use washing the firetruck. The company sees this as unlimited downtime. The company will do stock buybacks every quarter while at the same time telling you they have no money for extra pay. While also not giving employees stock options. A quick and easy google search of "wabtec stock buybacks" will give you all the information you need on this subject.
