ZFW CTLR DESCRIBED NEAR OPDEV; EXPRESSING CONCERNS REGARDING STAFFING AND FAC OPERATIONAL CHANGES SINCE IWR WERE INITIATED BY THE FAA.

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THE PLT OF ACFT X HAD REQUESTED DIRECT TO NIXHE FOR THE RNAV (GPS) RWY 31 APCH TO ARDMORE MUNICIPAL ARPT (ADM) WITH THE INTENT OF 2 TURNS IN THE HOLD BEFORE SHOOTING THE APCH; THEN A TOUCH-AND-GO AND ON TO ADDISON (ADS). WHEN I ASSUMED THE SECTOR; THE ACFT WAS ALREADY DIRECT NIXHE AND DSNDING TO 8000 FT. IN THE CHART BOOK FOR THE ADM-LO SECTOR; THE ILS 31 AND THE GPS 31 PLATES FACE EACH OTHER AND BOTH USE ADDMO AS PART OF THE APCH (ON THE ILS IT IS THE IAF AND OM; ON THE GPS IT IS THE POINT AFTER THE IAF OF NIXHE). THE MDA IN THE SECTOR AS A WHOLE IS 3000 FT; WITH SCATTERED AREAS HIGHER DUE TO ANTENNAS. ONE SUCH HIGHER AREA IS LOCATED SE OF ADM; JUST BEYOND NIXHE; WITH A MDA OF 3600 FT. AFTER A QUICK GLANCE AT THE CHART (WHERE I MIGHT HAVE VIEWED THE ILS'S PLANE VIEW BY MISTAKE) I CLRED THE FLT TO MAINTAIN 3000 FT UNTIL NIXHE SINCE I KNEW HIS CURRENT RTE AVOIDED THE 3600 FT MDA AREA. AS THE FLT PROGRESSED TOWARD NIXHE; THE LITTLE VOICE IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD STARTED GETTING LOUDER -- JUST HOW CAN THE HOLDING PATTERN AT NIXHE (WHICH IS TO THE SE) BE AT 3000 FT WITH THAT ANTENNA? THE ILS'S HOLDING PATTERN IS LOWER; BUT AT THE VOR...? I PICKED UP THE APCH PLATES AND IMMEDIATELY IDENTED MY ERROR. THE ACFT WAS CLBED TO 3600 FT WITH AN APOLOGY AND AN EXPLANATION; AND THE PLT ADMITTED THEY HAD MISSED THE ALT MISMATCH AS WELL. THE ACFT CLBED IN TIME TO FLY THE NIXHE PATTERN AT PUBLISHED ALT; BUT IT WAS MUCH CLOSER THAN I WOULD HAVE LIKED. LESSONS: SINCE THE IMPOSITION OF WORK RULES ON SEP/XA/06; THE FAA HAS BEEN HELL BENT ON MAKING CTLRS 'MORE PRODUCTIVE.' THEIR SOLE METRIC FOR THIS IS 'TIME ON POS.' THIS IS A FALSE MEASURE; AS WE HAVE OTHER DUTIES TO PERFORM; AND MAKING US REACH 6 OR 8 HRS ON POS IS AKIN TO TELLING FIREFIGHTERS TO STAND ON STREET CORNERS LOOKING FOR A FIRE WHEN THEY ARE NOT ACTUALLY FIGHTING A FIRE. WE ARE CONSTANTLY ASSIGNED MAKE-WORK POS LIKE D-SIDES THAT WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN STAFFED 'PRE-IMPOSITION OF WORK RULES;' THE OPENING OF AN R-SIDE THAT WAS SELDOM OPEN BEFORE; ETC. THIS IS RESULTING IN A DRAINED WORKFORCE WITH LOW MORALE AND SLOPPY WORK HABITS. CONSTANTLY TRYING TO FIND ENOUGH WORK FOR 2 PEOPLE WHEN THE SECTOR DEMANDS JUST 1; MEANS PEOPLE START EXPECTING THE OTHER PERSON TO 'DO THAT.' WE ARE LOSING OUR EDGE AND OUR ABILITY TO WORK TFC SOLO. ADDITIONALLY; THE IMPOSITION OF WORK RULES CHANGED THE RULES ON SICK LEAVE; WITH SPECIFIC DIRECTION THAT SICK LEAVE WILL NOT BE ALLOWED FOR MINOR INCONVENIENCES SUCH AS LACK OF SLEEP. THE NIGHT BEFORE THIS; I WAS ASLEEP JUST 30 MINS BEFORE MY 1 YR OLD DAUGHTER AWOKE ME WITH A TEMP AND DISCOMFORT. JUST OVER 2 1/2 HRS LATER; I FINALLY GOT BACK TO SLEEP; FOR ABOUT 1 1/2 HRS; BEFORE GETTING UP TO RPT TO WORK. 2 HRS OF BROKEN SLEEP WOULD HAVE CERTAINLY CAUSED ME TO CALL IN BEFORE SEP/XA/06; BUT NOW IT ISN'T AN OPTION. THE NEW FOCUS ON SICK LEAVE USAGE IS MAKING MORE AND MORE CTLRS WORK WHEN SICK; TIRED; OR JUST DEGRADED IN ABILITY. IN SUMMARY; I WAS TIRED FROM LITTLE SLEEP AND ASSIGNMENT TO MIND-NUMBING POS DURING THE DIRECT 7 HRS 25 MINS OF MY SHIFT; LEADING UP TO THIS SLIP. MY OVERALL HEALTH IS SLIPPING AND MY MENTAL STATE IS FRAZZLED. THE WHOLE WORK FORCE IS BEING DRIVEN TOWARD A CLIFF BY AN UNCARING FAA; AND THE SYS IS IN REAL TROUBLE. I'M STILL PROUD OF MY JOB AND THE SVC I PROVIDE; BUT I'M ASHAMED OF OUR EMPLOYER.