Vacation freeze?

How difficult is it for you reporters and photogs to get vacation time? Here at the copy desk we're on a vacation freeze in Nov. and Dec. because of the holidays, but now we're also told that we can't take vacation time between January and April because management doesn't yet know when they are going to train us on the new front-end system.

They were gracious enough to tell me I may be able to get a few days at the beginning of January if I want it. But seriously, six months of vacation freeze this year? Some on the copy desk are afraid they are going to hit their vacation cap, but we don't know for sure since it's not printed on our checks (and won't be until Dec. 28).

Edit: I just learned that they can't take away vacation time from employees in California. Nice to know management always tells us they will if we don't use it, and I've also seen them take it away from some (but I think they've given it back after someone complains.) Here's the link and text of Q&A about the state regulation:

From state's Web site:
My employer’s vacation policy provides that if I do not use all of my annual vacation entitlement by the end of the year, that I lose the unused balance. Is this legal?

A. No, such a provision is not legal. In California, vacation pay is another form of wages which vests as it is earned (in this context, "vests" means you are invested or endowed with rights in the wages). Accordingly, a policy that provides for the forfeiture of vacation pay not used by a specified date ("use it or lose it") is an illegal policy under state law and will not be recognized by the Labor Commissioner.