The head of the union representing Gatineau bus drivers wants the city's transit service to ban passengers from recording video on city buses, after one employee was caught on video doing paperwork while driving.

Felix Gendron, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union in Gatineau, said the driver's privacy rights were violated after a passenger shot video of him and posted it on YouTube.

The video shows the driver scribbling away on papers he had rested on a satchel on his lap while driving down Tache Boulevard in Gatineau. His hands rarely grip the steering wheel during the video's 57 seconds, and on several occasions his hands aren't on the wheel at all.

Since it was posted online July 18, the video has received more than 130,000 hits on YouTube.

"I think that the person who makes the video, if they don't like the way the driver's doing that they should go tell the driver. Not go put that on TV," said Gendron.

The Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) representative said the transit service had a meeting with the driver this week to discuss punishment. But STO said he had a good driving history and would not be fired. Details of the punishment were not released.

Gendron said the union asked STO to ban passengers from being able to record drivers.

Céline Gauthier, the head of STO's public affairs office, said the transit operator is looking into the union's request.

But Gauthier doesn't believe the video made the punishment for the driver any more harsh.

"Even if one person had told us about this dangerous action we would do the same thing," said Gauthier. "It's not a question of filming. Every day while driving the bus, drivers should be impeccable. Filming or not."