Currently Kalama longshore grainhandlers have a 401(k) plan that isn’t as robust as the defined benefit pension plans provided at other terminals. Health care benefits also are not up to the PMA standard, according to Local 21.

“It’s not right that the same employer has one standard for its workers in Portland but another for its workers in Kalama,” ILWU Local 21 President Billy Roberts said in a prepared statement.

“The work is the same, the hazards are the same and the need for family health benefits and retirement security are the same. But the employer has refused, for three years at the negotiating table, to meet the industry standard on benefits. KEX (Kalama Export Company) needs to meet the same standard for its grainhandlers in Kalama as it already does for its grainhandlers in Portland,” Roberts said.