Benefit Plans

9 Months Ended

Oct. 02, 2011

Benefit Plans [Abstract]

Benefit Plans

18. Benefit Plans

Pension Plans

Retirement benefits under the two Company-sponsored pension plans are based on the employee’s length of service, average compensation over the five consecutive years that give the highest average compensation and average Social Security taxable wage base during the 35-year period before reaching Social Security retirement age. Contributions to the plans are based on the projected unit credit actuarial funding method and are limited to the amounts currently deductible for income tax purposes. On February 22, 2006, the Board of Directors of the Company approved an amendment to the principal Company-sponsored pension plan to cease further benefit accruals under the plan effective June 30, 2006.

The components of net periodic pension cost were as follows:

	Third Quarter						First Nine Months
In Thousands	2011			2010			2011			2010
Service cost	$	25		$	20		$	75		$	58
Interest cost		3,085			2,864			9,255			8,578
Expected return on plan assets		(2,921	)		(2,894	)		(8,765	)		(8,630	)
Amortization of prior service cost		4			4			12			12
Recognized net actuarial loss		517			1,365			1,553			4,355
Net periodic pension cost	$	710		$	1,359		$	2,130		$	4,373

The Company contributed $7.8 million to its Company-sponsored pension plans during YTD 2011. The Company has made additional payments of $1.6 million subsequent to the end of Q3 2011.

Postretirement Benefits

The Company provides postretirement benefits for a portion of its current employees. The Company recognizes the cost of postretirement benefits, which consist principally of medical benefits, during employees’ periods of active service. The Company does not pre-fund these benefits and has the right to modify or terminate certain of these benefits in the future.

The components of net periodic postretirement benefit cost were as follows:

	Third Quarter						First Nine Months
In Thousands	2011			2010			2011			2010
Service cost	$	243		$	182		$	727		$	572
Interest cost		707			634			2,123			1,886
Amortization of unrecognized transitional assets		(5	)		(7	)		(15	)		(19	)
Recognized net actuarial loss		530			410			1,590			1,092
Amortization of prior service cost		(429	)		(446	)		(1,287	)		(1,338	)
Net periodic postretirement benefit cost	$	1,046		$	773		$	3,138		$	2,193

401(k) Savings Plan

The Company provides a 401(k) Savings Plan for substantially all of the Company’s full-time employees who are not part of collective bargaining agreements. The Company matched the first 3% of its employees’ contributions for 2010 and 2011. The Company maintains the option to increase the matching contributions by an additional 2%, for a total of 5%, for the Company’s employees based on the financial results. Based on the Company’s financial results, the Company decided to increase the matching contributions for the additional 2% for the entire year of 2010. The Company made these additional payments for each quarter in 2010 in the following quarter concluding with the fourth quarter 2010 payment being made in the first quarter of 2011. The 2% matching contributions have been accrued during YTD 2011. The total cost, including the estimate for the additional 2% matching contributions, for this benefit in YTD 2011 and YTD 2010 was $6.5 million and $6.8 million, respectively.

Multi-Employer Benefits

The Company entered into a new agreement in the third quarter of 2008 after one of its collective bargaining contracts expired in July 2008. The new agreement allowed the Company to freeze its liability to Central States Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Plan (“Central States”), a multi-employer defined benefit pension fund, while preserving the pension benefits previously earned by the employees. As a result of freezing the Company’s liability to Central States, the Company recorded a charge of $13.6 million in the second half of 2008. The Company paid $3.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 to the Southern States Savings and Retirement Plan (“Southern States”) under the agreement to freeze the Central States liability. The remaining $10.6 million was the present value amount, using a discount rate of 7% that will be paid to Central States over the next 20 years and was recorded in other liabilities. Including the $3.0 million paid to Southern States in 2008, the Company has paid $5.7 million from the fourth quarter of 2008 through Q3 2011 and will pay approximately $1 million annually over the next 17 years.