You've been correct in everything you've said. I’m sorry i came off as an ass. This is a case of every region/district/facility interprets things differently and most interpret it wrong (mine being one of those wrong ones). I hate that I have to play by those rules, but just know a lot of the NAS has these rules. I’m glad your leadership doesn't suck, mine does.Wrong, we have 41 and 5 are devs, we just follow the contract on some occasions. Remember at the end of the day most controllers only care about LV and Pay, don't mess with that and we'll be mostly content.
Point is, NTI is important to upper management, and some will get leave denied to meet goals. Its not ideal, but it will happen. Its getting better, but some are still operating shitty. Grieve it and hope it gets better. The whole FAA/NATCA is shit right now so good luck if you like common sense.