Upon written request of the organization's authorized representative(s), the carrier shall meet to discuss establishment of a procedure under which any employee who holds train service seniority and is holding a regularly assigned position as a locomotive engineer may exercise his train service seniority rights. Any such procedures that are established shall be on an individual railroad basis and shall be in accordance with the guidelines set forth in Section 2.

    (a) The number of employees holding regularly assigned positions as locomotive engineers at a location that will be permitted to return to train service under this Article will be limited to the number of qualified and available demoted locomotive engineers at such location on the Option Date, the designated date on which employees may exercise rights hereunder to return to train service. As used in this Article, the term qualified shall be deemed to include (but is not limited to) qualification on the physical characteristics of the territory protected by the regularly assigned positions.

    (b) Two Option Dates per calendar year will be designated, which shall be January 1 and July 1 unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

    (c) Not less than seven (7) days prior to the Option Date, any employee working as a locomotive engineer who also has trainman seniority rights may file a request with the designated representative of a carrier requesting a return to train service.

    (d) Subject to subsection (a) , each employee holding a regularly assigned position as a locomotive engineer who has a valid request on file pursuant to subsection (e) will be notified on the Option Date, in seniority order (based upon trainman's seniority date), that his request to return to train service will be granted.

    (e) An employee exercising train service seniority rights under this Article will be limited to:

(1) bidding on vacant positions,

(2) claiming open positions, or

(3) displacing the junior employee on extra list(s).

(f) The locomotive engineer positions vacated by those

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employees who return to train service hereunder will be filled by the qualified and available demoted engineers at the location involved, consistent with applicable rules governing the filling of such vacancies.

    (g) An employee returning to train service under this Article will not be permitted to vacate his locomotive engineer's position until his replacement is available to fill such position.

    (h) An employee returning to train service under this Article will be treated, during all time in train service resulting from the exercise of rights granted hereunder, as "non-protected" trainmen ineligible for any form of payment (including guarantees, productivity fund buyouts, allowances and arbitraries) or benefit available to "protected" trainmen under any applicable existing or future crew consist agreements.

    (i) An employee returning to train service under this Article will not be permitted to voluntarily return to service as a locomotive engineer until after the next Option Date unless there is no train service position available to the employee at the location involved.

    (j) An employee returning to train service under this Article continues to be subject to force assignment back into locomotive engineer service in accordance with applicable agreements.

    (a) If the parties are unable to agree upon the procedures to implement this Article within ninety (90) days after the date a request is made under Section 1, at any time thereafter during the term of this Agreement either party may submit the matter to final and' binding arbitration by serving written notice on the appropriate representative of the other party.

    (b) The arbitrator shall be selected by the parties. If they fail to agree within five days from the date notice of the submission to arbitration is received from the moving party, either party may request a list of five potential arbitrators from the National Mediation Board, from which the parties shall choose the arbitrator through-alternate striking. The order of such striking shall be determined by coin flip unless otherwise agreed by the parties. The fees and expenses of the arbitrator shall be borne equally by the parties.

    (c) The arbitrator shall render a decision specifying the procedure for implementation of Section 1 within thirty (30) calendar days from the date the appointment is accepted, provided, however, that the arbitrator shall have no jurisdiction to alter or deviate from the provisions of Section 2. The arbitrator's decision shall be final and binding and shall be guided by the need

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to minimize disruptions to the work force that adversely affect the needs of the service and avoid additional costs to the carrier.

    This Article shall become effective June 1, 1996 and is not intended to restrict any of the existing rights of a carrier except as specifically provided herein.