Pension and Non-pension Postretirement Benefits

We have pension plans covering the majority of our employees. Benefits generally are based on compensation and service for salaried employees and job grade and length of service for hourly employees. Our policy is to fund pension plans such that sufficient assets will be available to meet future benefit requirements. In addition, we have an unfunded supplemental employee retirement plan (SERP) that covers certain salaried U.S.-based employees of Libbey hired before January 1, 2006. The U.S. pension plans cover the salaried U.S.-based employees of Libbey hired before January 1, 2006 and most hourly U.S.-based employees (excluding employees hired at Shreveport after 2008 and at Toledo after September 30, 2010). Effective January 1, 2013, we ceased annual company contribution credits to the cash balance accounts in our Libbey U.S. Salaried Pension Plan and SERP. The non-U.S. pension plans cover the employees of our wholly owned subsidiaries in the Netherlands and Mexico. The plan in Mexico is primarily unfunded.

The components of our net pension expense, including the SERP, are as follows:



Three months ended March 31,	U.S. Plans						Non-U.S. Plans						Total
(dollars in thousands)	2014			2013			2014			2013			2014			2013
Service cost	$	1,025		$	1,278		$	578		$	722		$	1,603		$	2,000
Interest cost	3,870			3,481			1,424			1,256			5,294			4,737
Expected return on plan assets	(5,608		)	(5,599		)	(632		)	(481		)	(6,240		)	(6,080		)
Amortization of unrecognized:
Prior service cost	265			293			57			62			322			355
Loss	1,242			2,087			258			238			1,500			2,325
Pension expense	$	794		$	1,540		$	1,685		$	1,797		$	2,479		$	3,337

We have contributed $1.1 million of cash into our pension plans for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Pension contributions for the remainder of 2014 are estimated to be $5.2 million.

We provide certain retiree health care and life insurance benefits covering our U.S and Canadian salaried employees hired before January 1, 2004 and a majority of our union hourly employees (excluding employees hired at Shreveport after 2008 and at Toledo after September 30, 2010). Employees are generally eligible for benefits upon retirement and completion of a specified number of years of creditable service. Effective January 1, 2013, we ended our existing healthcare benefit for salaried retirees age 65 and older and instead provide a Retiree Health Reimbursement Arrangement (RHRA) that supports retirees in purchasing a Medicare plan that meets their needs. Also effective January 1, 2013, we reduced the maximum life insurance benefit for salaried retirees to $10,000. Benefits for most hourly retirees are determined by collective bargaining. The U.S. non-pension postretirement plans cover the hourly and salaried U.S.-based employees of Libbey (excluding those mentioned above). The non-U.S. non-pension postretirement plans cover the retirees and active employees of Libbey who are located in Canada. The postretirement benefit plans are unfunded.

The provision for our non-pension postretirement benefit expense consists of the following:



Three months ended March 31,	U.S. Plans				Non-U.S. Plans					Total
(dollars in thousands)	2014		2013		2014		2013			2014		2013
Service cost	$	252	$	392	$	—	$	—		$	252	$	392
Interest cost	710		701		27		23			737		724
Amortization of unrecognized:
Prior service cost	35		34		—		—			35		34
Loss / (gain)	67		291		—		(1		)	67		290
Non-pension postretirement benefit expense	$	1,064	$	1,418	$	27	$	22		$	1,091	$	1,440

Our 2014 estimate of non-pension cash payments is $4.8 million, and we have paid $1.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014.