Employee and Retiree Benefits (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Nov. 26, 2016

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Amounts Recognized in Balance Sheet [Table Text Block]

Postretirement health care and deferred compensation benefits are as follows:



(In thousands)	November 26, 2016			August 27, 2016
Postretirement health care benefit cost	$	32		$	6,346
Non-qualified deferred compensation	17,616			18,003
Executive share option plan liability	3,181			3,341
SERP benefit liability	2,701			2,681
Executive deferred compensation	467			389
Officer stock-based compensation	657			763
Total deferred compensation and postretirement health care benefits	24,654			31,523
Less current portion	(4,693		)	(4,574		)
Long-term deferred compensation and postretirement health care benefits	$	19,961		$	26,949

Schedule of Postretirement Plan Amendments [Table Text Block]



Date	Event	Dollar Cap Reduction	Liability Reduction (In thousands)		Amortization Period⁽¹⁾
Fiscal 2005	Established employer dollar caps		$	40,414	11.5	years
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%	3,960		7.1	years
January 2016	Reduced employer dollar caps for retirees under age 65; discontinued retiree benefits for retirees age 65 and over	10%	28,596		6.9	years
January 2017 ⁽²⁾	Terminated plan		6,338		0.2	years

⁽¹⁾ Plan amendments are amortized on a straight-line basis over the expected remaining service period of active plan participants.

⁽²⁾ In accordance with ASC 715, the effects of the plan amendment are accounted for at the date the amendment is adopted and the date the amendment has been communicated to plan participants. The effective date for this plan amendment was October 26, 2016.

Schedule of Net Benefit Costs [Table Text Block]

Net periodic postretirement benefit income consisted of the following components:



	Three Months Ended
(In thousands)	November 26, 2016			November 28, 2015
Interest cost	$	29		$	153
Service cost	16			41
Amortization of prior service benefit	(20,772		)	(1,713		)
Amortization of net actuarial loss	7,959			368
Net periodic postretirement benefit income	$	(12,768	)	$	(1,151	)

Payments for postretirement health care	$	53		$	228