My company won't guarantee you will get to take the paid time off you have accrued according to policy.?

I'm a cashier in a grocery store. Our policy used to say that department managers had to guarantee you could take the time off you wanted if you gave at least 30 days notice and it wasn't a time deemed to be unusually busy. They made changes to the policy and gave out marked up copies with changes underlined for employees to look over and voice any concerns. Well, they didn't strike out, then underline the 30 day notice guarantee part. They removed it with NO indication of having done so. No one realized this until the policy was approved and implemented. The policy does state we will be paid any unused PTO when we leave. But we all know people need time off periodically, both for their own health and that of the company. Waiting 5 years or more then taking the pay and never the time doesn't do anyone any good. In fact, by policy, after a certain amount of PTO is accrued, no more is granted until some of it is used. We have put together a small task force (3 hourly employees and 2 managers) to address the issue. We do not have rotating schedules and are running a skeleton crew in all departments. There are only a handful of hourly employees getting full time, but the part-timers don't want to work nights and weekends, or are in school and can't cover day shifts. Any good ideas out there?