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 September 30,	U.S. Plans						Non-U.S. Plans						Total
(dollars in thousands)	2015			2014			2015			2014			2015			2014
Service cost	$	1,091		$	916		$	741		$	567		$	1,832		$	1,483
Interest cost	3,678			3,845			1,085			1,396			4,763			5,241
Expected return on plan assets	(5,666		)	(5,597		)	(608		)	(616		)	(6,274		)	(6,213		)
Amortization of unrecognized:
Prior service cost	104			265			(62		)	55			42			320
Loss	1,823			1,014			400			253			2,223			1,267
Pension expense	$	1,030		$	443		$	1,556		$	1,655		$	2,586		$	2,098

Nine months ended September 30,	U.S. Plans						Non-U.S. Plans						Total
(dollars in thousands)	2015			2014			2015			2014			2015			2014
Service cost	$	3,274		$	2,748		$	2,251		$	1,724		$	5,525		$	4,472
Interest cost	11,036			11,534			3,295			4,242			14,331			15,776
Expected return on plan assets	(16,996		)	(16,790		)	(1,844		)	(1,872		)	(18,840		)	(18,662		)
Amortization of unrecognized:
Prior service cost	313			794			(187		)	170			126			964
Loss	5,468			3,043			1,215			770			6,683			3,813
Pension expense	$	3,095		$	1,329		$	4,730		$	5,034		$	7,825		$	6,363

We have contributed $1.3 million and $3.8 million of cash into our pension plans for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively. Pension contributions for the remainder of 2015 are estimated to be $1.4 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 September 30,	U.S. Plans				Non-U.S. Plans					Total
(dollars in thousands)	2015		2014		2015			2014		2015		2014
Service cost	$	214	$	252	$	—		$	—	$	214	$	252
Interest cost	634		710		10			26		644		736
Amortization of unrecognized:
Prior service cost	35		35		—			—		35		35
Loss / (gain)	148		66		(19		)	—		129		66
Non-pension postretirement benefit expense	$	1,031	$	1,063	$	(9	)	$	26	$	1,022	$	1,089

Nine months ended September 30,	U.S. Plans				Non-U.S. Plans					Total
(dollars in thousands)	2015		2014		2015			2014		2015		2014
Service cost	$	641	$	755	$	1		$	1	$	642	$	756
Interest cost	1,903		2,130		39			82		1,942		2,212
Amortization of unrecognized:
Prior service cost	105		105		—			—		105		105
Loss / (gain)	444		200		(43		)	—		401		200
Non-pension postretirement benefit expense	$	3,093	$	3,190	$	(3	)	$	83	$	3,090	$	3,273

Our 2015 estimate of non-pension cash payments is $5.1 million, and we have paid $0.8 million and $2.4 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively.