New Brunswick's striking jail guards, college custodians and human service counsellors have rejected a government offer to go to binding arbitration to settle their contract dispute.

Provincial Human Resources Minister Wally Stiles met briefly with officials from Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1251 on Friday morning. Stiles told reporters he has asked the union to consult its membership and decide quickly whether to go to binding arbitration.

About 500 community-college custodians, corrections officers and human services counsellors went on strike on Jan. 10.

Going to binding arbitration is a risk for both sides because it would mean either the government or the union's package would be accepted — not a mix of the two proposals, Stiles said.

Stiles said that a rejection of a call for binding arbitration would mean he would begin discussing back-to-work legislation with cabinet.

Only 20 per cent of the jail guards have been off the job because the positions are deemed essential services. However, the dispute has forced the cancellation of classes at 10 of the province's 11 community college campuses because of dirty classrooms and washrooms. Only Dieppe remains open and is operating on a half-day schedule.

Students have expressed concerns about losing the semester.

The government presented the union with what Stiles has called its "final offer" last week, but the union refused to vote on it and negotiations have broken off.

The union wants an increase of $1.12 an hour for college custodians to bring wages in line with custodians working in the province's public schools. It also says correctional officers working in provincial jails are the lowest-paid in the country.

According to Stiles, the government's offer would see the wages of custodial workers increase 18.3 per cent to $17.23 an hour by 2011, while the hourly wage for correctional officers would go from $20.52 to $25, an increase of almost 22 per cent.

Stiles said the offer would also provide a 12.6 per cent wage increase for human service counsellors, taking them from $16.88 an hour to $19.01 in 2011.