TORONTO - College representatives say teachers are being misled if they believe rejecting their employers' last offer won't lead to a strike affecting Ontario's 200,000 full-time students.

Rachael Donovan, chair of the colleges' bargaining team, says management has made it very clear that it has presented its final offer -- despite union claims that a vote against that contract won't necessarily mean a strike.

Head union negotiator Ted Montgomery says he's ready to go back to the bargaining table and enlist an arbitrator to settle the dispute if the vote is rejected by his membership Wednesday.

He says that means students shouldn't immediately fear a strike if the sides can't agree.

But the College Compensation and Appointments Council says that's not the case, adding it will not agree to arbitration because the colleges have offered all they can afford.

College faculty members gave the union a 57 per cent strike mandate last month, but management asked that the contract be put to the teachers themselves for a vote.