MONTREAL -- A major transportation union is demanding the Quebec government include bus drivers in its vaccination priority group of essential workers.

“Even in the midst of a pandemic, at several times of the day, the buses of most transportation companies in the province remain crowded and distancing measures cannot be respected,” read a release the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

This week, Premier Francois Legault rejigged the province’s priority groups in line for COVID-19 vaccines. A new group was added to include essential service workers.

Jobs on that list include school staff, police, firefighters, community workers, miners and others. It didn’t include public transit workers.

“If there are outbreaks among bus drivers, everyone who relies on common carrier service is going to pay the price,” said Marc Ranger , Quebec director of transport union CUPE.

“We need public transit to move our workers in health care and education and so on. This is exactly why we believe that drivers should be designated ‘essential’ and be vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

STM SCREENING EMPLOYEES AFTER CASES CONFIRMED IN NETWORK

Montreal’s transit network (STM) is already on high alert after nine Centre de transport d’Anjou employees were infected by COVID-19 since March 29.

A driver was among that group, along with eight maintenance employees.

An STM spokesperson told CTV News they’ve carried out “the necessary inquiries” to determine who might have been in contact with those infected.

“We have put in place all the necessary measures to disinfect the workplaces and thus prevent the spread,” said Isabelle-Alice Tremblay of STM public affairs.

Tremblay says a screening clinic will take place on Friday afternoon, “non-essential activities” have been halted, and lunches have been cut down to 15 minutes to limit time spent unmasked.

Each employee will have to fill out a symptom questionnaire on arrival to work, and an employee register has been put in the rest room, where workers eat and remove their masks.

Even with added precautions, CUPE says the government needs to step up its effort to protect drivers.

“Our members have been on the front lines since the start of this health crisis and their work is essential for the population,” said CUPE-Quebec President Benoit Bouchard.

“It is time for the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, to finally recognize this and for the drivers to be vaccinated as a priority.”