Bottom line
The province is broke. Ontario is a have-not province for the first time in its history. Ontario has a 15 billion dollar deficit in 2012 alone which gets added to our debt which is worse than California's. There simply is no more money to give to teachers. The Ontario economy has had the shit kicked out of it by the recession, the loss of jobs, the closing of factories and mines and mills and the loss of solid tax paying jobs. For as long as I can remember, teachers were insulated against the broader economy and never gave a factory closing a second thought. But in the last 5 years, the decimation to the Ontario economy has now caught up with the province and the province is in a real financial bind. It would not matter what party was in power - the result would be the same.
I have several friends who are teachers, my mother was a teacher. I respect the profession. But they do have it made, especially in Ontario. My high school teacher friends are all making about 96k a year to work 9 months of the year with excellent benefits, excellent working hours, conditions, pensions, etc. In comparison to other jurisdictions - like say the entire United States - they are making huge money. 96 x 12/10 = 115 grand per year (say they work 10 months a year because most people after 10 years get 4 weeks vacation (mind you, you probably can't take it).
My personal opinion in life has always been - "if you think you're getting fucked around at work - quit and find another job" I apply this line of thinking to my own life and I have done just that on 3 separate occasions over the years. If teachers feel that they are getting fucked around - quit and find another job somewhere else. I'm being serious about this.
The alternative would be to lay off several thousand teachers. Give those who remain a 2 percent raise, but they would need to pick up the slack of those who were laid off. Unfortunately, this is how it works when you're out of money.