School bus drivers and mechanics in the Halifax region have voted nearly 97 per cent in favour of a walkout to back demands for higher pay.

The employees of Stock Transportation took a strike vote Wednesday night, although the company and the workers' union still have to sit down with a labour conciliator.

A conciliator has been appointed, but no date has been set yet for the two sides to get together. A meeting is expected sometime in the next two weeks.

'We will make sure that students get to school'—Education Minister Karen Casey

Joan Jessome, president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, said the workers have made their demands clear to the company.

"Either the employer's gonna do it or they're not," she said Thursday. "We'll have to see what the next step is after that."

The 300 drivers, monitors and mechanics are responsible for getting 23,000 students to school each day in the Halifax Regional Municipality.

"That work needs to be recognized and needs to be valued," said Jessome.

She said the company's offer of a 2.5 per cent increase over four years is nowhere near what employees want.

Jessome said workers are currently paid an hourly rate between $10.41 and $12.49, much less than the $18-$20 an hour paid to bus drivers directly employed by the school board.

The Halifax Regional School Board isn't commenting on the contract dispute.

Education Minister Karen Casey said in the event of a strike, buses could be brought in from elsewhere.

"We will make sure that students get to school," Casey told reporters. "We have neighbouring provinces that if in a crisis we can go there, but we really don't want to start putting all of our focus on that."

Jessome said a move like that would be insulting.

The two sides have been negotiating since February.