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3employee would typically work in the yard, switching box cars and making up trains. The yardemployee does not leave the terminal.[10] In terms of hiring, CN tends to hire its running trades employees in large group. CN didsignificant hiring in the seventies, a spattering in the eighties; then again it did significant hiring inthe nineties and also during the last couple of years.[11] Ms. Ziemer, a Human Resources Officer from Vancouver, testified that in 1996 thepercentage of women in the “running trades” was about 3%. This figure was 3.7% in 2006 and isnow around 3.1%. She added that men predominantly showed more interest for running tradesjobs.2010 CHRT 23 (CanLII)[12] She also explained that the cost of hiring and training a Conductor would be in the vicinityof 18,000 to 20,000$, per Conductor. The training takes from three (3) to six (6) months. Thecost of training a locomotive engineer is between 28,000$ to 30,000$, in addition to what it cost totrain him or her as a Conductor.[13] In order to be qualified to work as a Conductor, an employee must have his rules andmedical cards up to date. These cards have to be updated every three years. If the employee is onthe working board, he or she will generally get a notice that tells him or her that his cards areabout to expire and then he just needs to make the proper arrangements to bring them up to date.If the employee is on lay off, he will need to take care of this by himself.[14] Due to the nature of CN’s operation, running trades employees must be able to workwhere and when required, subject to restrictions imposed by law and the collective agreement. Inlight of these considerations, CN feels that mobility and flexibility constitutes basic jobrequirements for running trades employees. It considers these requirements as necessary becauseof the volume of goods it transports and because of the fluctuation in traffic which can occur overa short time period of time due, for example, to changes in the economy or to seasonal factorssuch as the grain harvest season.