Thousands of college instructors hit picket lines across the province Monday, leaving students with fears that their academic year could be in peril.

The Ontario Public Services Employees Union and the College Employer Council failed to agree on a contract by a deadline at 12:01 a.m. on Monday. There are no new talks scheduled.

Carlee Toms, a social services student at George Brown College’s King St. campus, said she worries her about losing a semester.

“I fear I’m going to be missing out on what I paid for,” Toms said. “We just don’t know what will happen.”

Students signing an online petition are demanding a refund for the time they are barred from classrooms.

As long as the strike is kept short things will be fine, said Vitto Shiffman, a business management student.

“The professors have said it won’t last more than two weeks and reading week is coming up, so it might not be too bad. We can still get assignments to work on, online, but no lectures,” Shiffman said. “If it goes on too long and we can’t get our (tuition) money back, that would really bother me.”

International student Flavio Mattos from Brazil expressed worries about having to extend his visa in the event of a long strike.

“I’m scared of having to repeat a semester and as an international student I have different rules and pay more tuition than a domestic student,” said Mattos, who is studying business.

The union has made significant moves to meet the colleges on middle ground but has been stonewalled in the talks, insisted OPSEU spokesman J.P. Hornick.

“If the college was to call us back to negotiations, we would be there in a heartbeat. We don’t want to be out here (picketing),” Hornick said.

The union is looking for more job security for contract workers and more input into academic decision making.

“We remain very far apart even on no-cost issues. They refuse to have a conversation,” Hornick said.

“We are putting out things that are very reasonable.”

The union’s demands would increase annual costs by $250 million, according to the college council.

“We should have had a deal based on our final offer. It’s comparable to, or better than, recent public-sector settlements with teachers, college support staff and hospital professionals, and Ontario public servants, most of which were negotiated by OPSEU,” Sonia Del Missier, a spokesman for the council said in a statement.

- With files from The Canadian Press

PUBLIC COLLEGES IN ONTARIO