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Pensions And Other Postretirement Benefits Pension and OPEB
 6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2012
Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]
Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits

Contributions

We made a contribution in January 2011 to our U.S. hourly and salaried defined benefit pension plans of 61 million shares of our common stock valued at $2.2 billion for funding purposes at the time of contribution. The contributed shares qualified as a plan asset for funding purposes at the time of contribution and as a plan asset valued at $1.9 billion for accounting purposes in July 2011. This was a voluntary contribution above our funding requirements for the pension plans.

We continue to pursue various options to fund and derisk our pension plans, including continued changes to the pension asset portfolio mix to reduce funded status volatility.

Net Periodic Pension and OPEB Expense

The following tables summarize the components of net periodic pension and other postretirement benefits (OPEB) (income) expense (dollars in millions):
 
Three Months Ended June 30, 2012
 
Three Months Ended June 30, 2011
 
U.S. Plans
Pension Benefits
 
Non-U.S. Plans
Pension Benefits
 
U.S. Plans
Other Benefits
 
Non-U.S. Plans
Other Benefits
 
U.S. Plans
Pension Benefits
 
Non-U.S. Plans
Pension Benefits
 
U.S. Plans
Other Benefits
 
Non-U.S. Plans
Other Benefits
Service cost
$
161

 
$
106

 
$
7

 
$
3

 
$
157

 
$
96

 
$
7

 
$
8

Interest cost
1,080

 
276

 
58

 
16

 
1,228

 
313

 
68

 
53

Expected return on plan assets
(1,333
)
 
(218
)
 
—

 
—

 
(1,672
)
 
(237
)
 
—

 
—

Amortization of prior service credit
(1
)
 
—

 
(29
)
 
(3
)
 
—

 
(1
)
 
—

 
(3
)
Recognized net actuarial loss
1

 
9

 
13

 
2

 
—

 
1

 
1

 
—

Curtailments, settlements and other (gains) losses
(2
)
 
14

 
—

 
—

 
(23
)
 
(19
)
 
—

 
—

Net periodic pension and OPEB (income) expense
$
(94
)
 
$
187

 
$
49

 
$
18

 
$
(310
)
 
$
153

 
$
76

 
$
58


 
Six Months Ended June 30, 2012
 
Six Months Ended June 30, 2011
 
U.S. Plans
Pension Benefits
 
Non-U.S. Plans
Pension Benefits
 
U.S. Plans
Other Benefits
 
Non-U.S. Plans
Other Benefits
 
U.S. Plans
Pension Benefits
 
Non-U.S. Plans
Pension Benefits
 
U.S. Plans
Other Benefits
 
Non-U.S. Plans
Other Benefits
Service cost
$
321

 
$
198

 
$
12

 
$
8

 
$
315

 
$
192

 
$
13

 
$
17

Interest cost
2,160

 
553

 
117

 
32

 
2,457

 
614

 
135

 
105

Expected return on plan assets
(2,665
)
 
(435
)
 
—

 
—

 
(3,346
)
 
(467
)
 
—

 
—

Amortization of prior service credit
(1
)
 
—

 
(58
)
 
(5
)
 
—

 
(1
)
 
—

 
(5
)
Recognized net actuarial loss
1

 
17

 
26

 
3

 
—

 
1

 
2

 
—

Curtailments, settlements and other (gains) losses
(23
)
 
42

 
—

 
—

 
(23
)
 
(16
)
 
—

 
—

Net periodic pension and OPEB (income) expense
$
(207
)
 
$
375

 
$
97

 
$
38

 
$
(597
)
 
$
323

 
$
150

 
$
117


Significant Plan Amendments, Benefit Modifications and Related Events

U.S. Salaried Defined Benefit Pension Plan

In January 2012 we amended the U.S. salaried pension plan to cease the accrual of additional benefits effective September 30, 2012. This amendment resulted in a curtailment which decreased the liability and decreased the net actuarial loss component of Accumulated other comprehensive income by $309 million. Active plan participants will receive additional contributions in the defined contribution plan starting in October 2012.

In May 2012 we entered into an agreement in which the salaried pension plan will purchase a group annuity contract from an insurance company that requires the insurance company to pay and administer the future annuity payments to certain of our salaried retirees. Following the execution of the agreement certain retired participants in the salaried plan are being offered lump-sum distributions. Approximately 42,000 salaried retirees and surviving beneficiaries will be eligible to receive a voluntary single lump-sum payment option. Retired salaried employees that are not offered lump-sum distributions or those that decline the lump-sum offer will receive annuity payments from the insurance company in accordance with the terms of the group annuity contract. Approximately 118,000 salaried retirees are affected by changes depending on retirement date and eligibility. We will provide additional funding to the salaried pension plan so that the plan has sufficient assets to purchase the group annuity contract, provide additional funding to the salaried pension plan for current salaried employees and complete the transactions contemplated by the agreement. It is expected that the additional funding for the salaried pension plan will be in the range of $3.5 billion to $4.5 billion. Due to the magnitude of the pension obligations being settled and the interest rate sensitivity of the transactions, it is possible that the ultimate amount of additional funding could be outside this range when the transactions are completed. The ultimate amount of funding will be subject to several additional factors including plan asset returns, the lump-sum election rate and those associated with the creation of the new defined benefit plan. Certain aspects of the transactions contemplated by the agreement are subject to external regulatory review. Assuming all of the closing conditions are met we expect the transactions contemplated under the agreement to be completed by December 31, 2012.

In August 2012, the U.S. salaried pension plan was amended to create a legally separate new defined benefit pension plan for primarily active and terminated vested participants. The underlying benefits offered to plan participants were unchanged. The existing plan will primarily cover retirees receiving payments. We expect to settle the existing plan by December 31, 2012 through lump-sum distributions and the purchase of a group annuity contract from an insurance company, as previously discussed, and the plan will subsequently be terminated. Accordingly, we will remeasure the U.S. salaried pension plan in August 2012.

Canadian Salaried Benefit Plans

In June 2012 we amended the Canadian salaried pension plan to cease the accrual of additional benefits effective January 1, 2013 and provide active employees a lump-sum distribution option at retirement. The remeasurement, amendments and offsetting curtailment increased the liability by $84 million, and resulted in a net decrease in the pre-tax components of Accumulated other comprehensive income composed of net actuarial loss of $58 million, net actuarial curtailment gain of $20 million and prior service cost of $46 million. Active plan participants will receive additional contributions in the defined contribution plan starting in January 2013.

We also amended the Canadian salaried retiree healthcare plan to eliminate post-65 healthcare benefits for employees retiring on or after July 1, 2014. In conjunction with this change we amended the plan to offer either a monthly monetary payment or an annual lump-sum cash payment to a defined contribution plan for health care in lieu of the benefit coverage provisions formerly provided under the healthcare plan. These amendments decreased the liability by $28 million and resulted in a net increase in the pre-tax components of Accumulated other comprehensive income composed of prior service credit of $51 million and net actuarial loss of $23 million.

Remeasurements

In the three months ended March 31, 2012 certain pension plans in GME were remeasured as part of our Goodwill impairment testing, resulting in an increase of $150 million in Pensions and a pre-tax increase in the net actuarial loss component of Accumulated other comprehensive income.

In the three months ended March 31, 2011 certain pension plans in GME were remeasured as part of our Goodwill impairment testing, resulting in a decrease of $272 million in Pensions and a pre-tax increase in the net actuarial gain component of Accumulated other comprehensive income.

Refer to Note 9 for additional information on our Goodwill impairment.