Employee and Retiree Benefits (Tables)

9 Months Ended

May. 30, 2015

Postretirement health care and deferred compensation benefits are as follows:



(In thousands)	May 30, 2015			August 30, 2014
Postretirement health care benefit cost	$	36,052		$	36,930
Non-qualified deferred compensation	19,920			21,014
Executive share option plan liability	5,139			5,628
SERP benefit liability	2,806			2,974
Executive deferred compensation	305			213
Officer stock-based compensation	411			627
Total postretirement health care and deferred compensation benefits	64,633			67,386
Less current portion ⁽¹⁾	(5,422		)	(4,575		)
Long-term postretirement health care and deferred compensation benefits	$	59,211		$	62,811

Changes in the postretirement benefit plan include:



Date	Event	Dollar Cap Reduction	Liability Reduction (In thousands)		Amortization Period⁽¹⁾
Fiscal 2005	Established employer dollar caps
January 2012	Reduced employer dollar caps	10%	$	4,598	7.8	years
January 2013	Reduced employer dollar caps	10%	$	4,289	7.5	years
January 2014	Reduced employer dollar caps	10%	$	3,580	7.3	years
January 2015	Reduced employer dollar caps	10%	$	1,524	7.1	years

Net periodic postretirement benefit income consisted of the following components:



	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
(In thousands)	May 30, 2015			May 31, 2014			May 30, 2015			May 31, 2014
Interest cost	$	348		$	380		$	1,034		$	1,160
Service cost	107			96			320			296
Amortization of prior service benefit	(1,459		)	(1,482		)	(4,079		)	(4,168		)
Amortization of net actuarial loss	399			274			1,066			803
Net periodic postretirement benefit income	$	(605	)	$	(732	)	$	(1,659	)	$	(1,909	)

Payments for postretirement health care	$	231		$	247		$	707		$	779