Washington State Ferries Chief David Moseley, addressing a community gathering in Port Orchard on Tuesday, acknowledged what he’s been saying since he was appointed to his post in 2008 — that the system is financially unsustainable and has been for years.

Moseley insists the only way to move WSF in the general direction of cost-effectiveness is by enacting service cuts.

And if the alternative is increasing fares from their already jaw-dropping levels, we’re inclined to agree.

But, of course, that isn’t quite accurate.

According to a chart handed out to meeting attendees on Tuesday, up to 80 percent of WSF’s total budget is spend on vessel and terminal operations, fuel and, wait for it … labor costs.

The latter category adds up to $262 million, which goes to pay unionized crew members.

Moseley insists the labor contract is binding, and that’s true … as far as it goes.

But a bankrupt company can usually renegotiate a crippling labor agreement, so why shouldn’t a state agency have the same privilege?

An enterprise that needs $83 million worth of shoring up from a parent running a multi-billion dollar deficit itself is the very definition of bankruptcy.

Isn’t it about time Moseley, Gov. Gregoire, the Legislature and the unions accepted what seems obvious to anyone with a passing acquaintance with economics?

Namely, that it isn’t ferry service in general that’s financially unsustainable.

What’s unsustainable is a ferry service based on lavish contracts negotiated by career bureaucrats with little incentive to play hardball with the taxpayers’ money and backed by a governor whose strings have been pulled by organized labor since she first took office.