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Postretirement benefits
 3 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2012
Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]  
Postretirement benefits
Postretirement benefits
Defined Benefit Plans
We provide postretirement benefits to a substantial portion of our employees. Costs associated with postretirement benefits include pension and postretirement health care expenses for employees, retirees, and surviving spouses and dependents. Generally, the pension plans are non-contributory. Our policy is to fund the pension plans in accordance with applicable U.S. and Canadian government regulations and to make additional contributions from time to time. For the three months ended January 31, 2012 and 2011, we contributed $29 million and $21 million, respectively, to our pension plans to meet regulatory funding requirements. We currently anticipate additional contributions of $160 million to our pension plans during the remainder of 2012.
We primarily fund other post-employment benefit (“OPEB”) obligations, such as retiree medical, in accordance with a 1993 Settlement Agreement (the "1993 Settlement Agreement"), which requires us to fund a portion of the plans' annual service cost to a retiree benefit trust (the "Base Trust"). That 1993 Settlement Agreement resolved a class action lawsuit originally filed in 1992 regarding the restructuring of the Company's then applicable retiree health care and life insurance benefits. Contributions for the three months ended January 31, 2012 and 2011, and anticipated contributions for the remainder of 2012, are not material.
The Early Retiree Reinsurance Program ("ERRP") was created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("PPACA") of 2010 to provide temporary financial assistance to health plan sponsors who provide retirement health coverage to pre-Medicare retirees. Under the terms of ERRP, for the three months ended January 31, 2012 and 2011, $3 million and $5 million, respectively, was collected and deposited into the Base Trust.
During the three months ended January 31, 2011, the Company incurred a charge of $5 million due to a plan curtailment and contractual termination benefits related to restructuring activities at the Fort Wayne facility. For more information regarding restructuring activities at the Fort Wayne facility, see Note 2, Restructurings.
Components of Net Periodic Benefit Expense (Income)
Net postretirement benefits expense included in our Consolidated Statements of Operations is comprised of the following:
 
 
Three Months Ended January 31,
 
 
Pension
Benefits
 
Health and
Life Insurance
Benefits
 
 
2012
 
2011
 
2012
 
2011
(in millions)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Service cost for benefits earned during the period
 
$
4

 
$
4

 
$
1

 
$
2

Interest on obligation
 
43

 
47

 
21

 
13

Amortization of cumulative loss
 
28

 
25

 
9

 
—

Amortization of prior service benefit
 
—

 
—

 
(1
)
 
(8
)
Curtailments
 
—

 
2

 
—

 
—

Contractual termination benefits
 
—

 
3

 
(2
)
 
—

Expected return on assets
 
(48
)
 
(52
)
 
(9
)
 
(10
)
Net postretirement benefits expense (income)
 
$
27

 
$
29

 
$
19

 
$
(3
)

Defined Contribution Plans and Other Contractual Arrangements
Our defined contribution plans cover a substantial portion of domestic salaried employees and certain domestic represented employees. The defined contribution plans contain a 401(k) feature and provide most participants with a matching contribution from the Company. Many participants covered by the plan receive annual Company contributions to their retirement accounts based on an age-weighted percentage of the participant's eligible compensation for the calendar year. Defined contribution expense pursuant to these plans was $10 million for both of the three month periods ended January 31, 2012 and 2011.
In accordance with the 1993 Settlement Agreement, an independent Retiree Supplemental Benefit Trust (the "Supplemental Trust") was established. The Supplemental Trust, and the benefits it provides to certain retirees, is not part of the Company's consolidated financial statements. The assets of the Supplemental Trust arise from three sources: (i) the Company's 1993 contribution to the Supplemental Trust of 25.5 million shares of our Class B common stock, which was subsequently sold by the Supplemental Trust prior to 2000, (ii) contingent profit-sharing contributions made by the Company, and (iii) net investment gains on the Supplemental Trust's assets, if any.
The Company's contingent profit sharing obligations will continue until certain funding targets defined by the 1993 Settlement Agreement are met ("Profit Sharing Cessation"). Upon Profit Sharing Cessation, the Company would assume responsibility for (i) establishing the investment policy for the Supplemental Trust, (ii) approving or disapproving of certain additional supplemental benefits to the extent such benefits would result in higher expenditures than those contemplated upon the Profit Sharing Cessation, and (iii) making additional contributions to the Supplemental Trust as necessary to make up for investment and /or actuarial losses. We have recorded no profit sharing accruals based on our estimate of 2012 results.