Editorial
Ferry food service may have to go

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Galley service on Washington State Ferries is an enjoyable convenience for commuters and tourists. But given state budget difficulties, lawmakers should not bail it out if a private contractor doesn't come forward to take over under reasonable terms.

The state Legislature wisely has directed the ferry system to pay more of its own costs — 90 percent by 2008. Last year, the system paid only about 69 percent, but since has raised fares and cut service.

The requirement is a natural extension of voter-approved transportation tax-cutting measures and rejected tax increases, both of which have affected ferries.

The galley service provider, Sodexho, canceled its contract with the ferry system, saying there's no money in it. No new vendor bid on the contract for the job, and galley service will end Dec. 31.

In the meantime, the Marine Employees Commission ruled Washington State Ferries engaged in an unfair labor practice by proposing a contract that did not include a requirement that any new vendor honor Sodexho's labor agreement with the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific.

The ferry system will appeal the commission's ruling. The system is revising its bids to include the labor provision, but there's no guarantee anyone will bid on this new contract, either.

Before considering any bailout, lawmakers should weigh the convenience of a warm bowl of chowder or beer on tap for ferry commuters against measures they took to fill the $2.6 billion budget deficit. They suspended teacher raises and a class-size-reduction measure and cut back medical assistance for poor children. They also lopped about 20,000 people off the Basic Health Plan and cut higher-education budgets by $130 million.

The ferry system is important for ensuring commuter and tourism connections across the water and must be preserved. But given state government's painful choices over far-more-important things than food service, it's not too much to ask ferry commuters to tote a thermos, as their counterparts in buses and carpools do.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company