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 June 30,	U.S. Plans						Non-U.S. Plans						Total
(dollars in thousands)	2015			2014			2015			2014			2015			2014
Service cost	$	1,022		$	807		$	762		$	579		$	1,784		$	1,386
Interest cost	3,649			3,819			1,107			1,422			4,756			5,241
Expected return on plan assets	(5,668		)	(5,585		)	(638		)	(624		)	(6,306		)	(6,209		)
Amortization of unrecognized:
Prior service cost	105			264			(61		)	58			44			322
Loss	1,759			787			409			259			2,168			1,046
Pension expense	$	867		$	92		$	1,579		$	1,694		$	2,446		$	1,786

Six months ended June 30,	U.S. Plans						Non-U.S. Plans						Total
(dollars in thousands)	2015			2014			2015			2014			2015			2014
Service cost	$	2,183		$	1,832		$	1,510		$	1,157		$	3,693		$	2,989
Interest cost	7,358			7,689			2,210			2,846			9,568			10,535
Expected return on plan assets	(11,330		)	(11,193		)	(1,236		)	(1,256		)	(12,566		)	(12,449		)
Amortization of unrecognized:
Prior service cost	209			529			(125		)	115			84			644
Loss	3,645			2,029			815			517			4,460			2,546
Pension expense	$	2,065		$	886		$	3,174		$	3,379		$	5,239		$	4,265

We have contributed $1.3 million and $2.7 million of cash into our pension plans for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015, respectively. Pension contributions for the remainder of 2015 are estimated to be $2.0 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. 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 June 30,	U.S. Plans				Non-U.S. Plans					Total
(dollars in thousands)	2015		2014		2015			2014		2015		2014
Service cost	$	145	$	251	$	1		$	1	$	146	$	252
Interest cost	609		710		10			29		619		739
Amortization of unrecognized:
Prior service cost	35		35		—			—		35		35
Loss / (gain)	100		67		(24		)	—		76		67
Non-pension postretirement benefit expense	$	889	$	1,063	$	(13	)	$	30	$	876	$	1,093

Six months ended June 30,	U.S. Plans				Non-U.S. Plans					Total
(dollars in thousands)	2015		2014		2015			2014		2015		2014
Service cost	$	427	$	503	$	1		$	1	$	428	$	504
Interest cost	1,269		1,420		29			56		1,298		1,476
Amortization of unrecognized:
Prior service cost	70		70		—			—		70		70
Loss / (gain)	296		134		(24		)	—		272		134
Non-pension postretirement benefit expense	$	2,062	$	2,127	$	6		$	57	$	2,068	$	2,184

Our 2015 estimate of non-pension cash payments is $5.1 million, and we have paid $0.7 million and $1.6 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015, respectively.