United Parcel Service, Inc. Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Company-Sponsored Benefit Plans

Information about net periodic benefit cost for our company-sponsored pension and postretirement benefit plans is as follows for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014 (in millions):



	U.S. Pension Benefits						U.S. Postretirement Medical Benefits						International Pension Benefits
	2015			2014			2015			2014			2015			2014
Three Months Ended September 30:
Service cost	$	382		$	284		$	8		$	12		$	12		$	10
Interest cost	423			401			30			33			11			12
Expected return on assets	(622		)	(564		)	(5		)	(6		)	(15		)	(15		)
Amortization of:
Transition obligation	—			—			—			—			—			—
Prior service cost	42			42			2			1			—			1
Other net (gain) loss	—			—			—			—			—			—
Actuarial (gain) loss	—			—			—			—			—			—
Settlement and curtailment loss	—			—			—			—			—			—
Net periodic benefit cost	$	225		$	163		$	35		$	40		$	8		$	8

	U.S. Pension Benefits						U.S. Postretirement Medical Benefits						International Pension Benefits
	2015			2014			2015			2014			2015			2014
Nine Months Ended September 30:
Service cost	$	1,145		$	853		$	25		$	51		$	37		$	37
Interest cost	1,270			1,203			91			119			33			38
Expected return on assets	(1,866		)	(1,693		)	(13		)	(18		)	(46		)	(45		)
Amortization of:
Transition obligation	—			—			—			—			—			—
Prior service cost	126			127			4			(2		)	1			(2		)
Other net (gain) loss	—			—			—			—			—			—
Actuarial (gain) loss	—			—			—			746			—			—
Settlement and curtailment loss	—			—			—			320			—			—
Net periodic benefit cost	$	675		$	490		$	107		$	1,216		$	25		$	28

During the first nine months of 2015, we contributed $66 and $81 million to our company-sponsored pension and postretirement medical benefit plans, respectively. We also expect to contribute $1.054 billion and $23 million over the remainder of the year to the pension and U.S. postretirement medical benefit plans, respectively.

Multiemployer Benefit Plans

We contribute to a number of multiemployer defined benefit and health and welfare plans under terms of collective bargaining agreements that cover our union-represented employees. Our current collective bargaining agreements set forth the annual contribution increases allotted to the plans that we participate in, and we are in compliance with these contribution rates. These limitations on annual contribution rates will remain in effect throughout the terms of the existing collective bargaining agreements.

As of September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014 we had $873 and $878 million, respectively, recognized in "other non-current liabilities" on our consolidated balance sheets associated with our previous withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan. This liability is payable in equal monthly installments over a remaining term of approximately 47 years. Based on the borrowing rates currently available to the Company for long-term financing of a similar maturity, the fair value of this withdrawal liability as of September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014 was $854 and $913 million, respectively. We utilized Level 2 inputs in the fair value hierarchy of valuation techniques to determine the fair value of this liability.

Collective Bargaining Agreements

As of December 31, 2014, we had approximately 270,000 employees employed under a national master agreement and various supplemental agreements with local unions affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (“Teamsters”). In addition, our airline pilots, airline mechanics, ground mechanics and certain other employees are employed under other collective bargaining agreements. During the second quarter of 2014, the Teamsters ratified a new national master agreement (“NMA”) with UPS that will expire on July 31, 2018. The economic provisions in the NMA included wage rate increases, as well as increased contribution rates for healthcare and pension benefits. Most of these economic provisions were retroactive to August 1, 2013, which was the effective date of the NMA. In the second quarter of 2014, we remitted $278 million for these retroactive economic benefits; this payment had an immaterial impact on net income, as these retroactive economic benefits had been accrued since the July 31, 2013 expiration of the prior agreement.

In addition to the retroactive economic provisions of the NMA, there were certain changes to the delivery of healthcare benefits that were effective at various dates. These changes impact approximately 36,000 full-time and 73,000 part-time active employees covered by the NMA and the UPS Freight collective bargaining agreement (collectively referred to as the “NMA Group”), as well as approximately 16,000 employees covered by other collective bargaining agreements (the “Non-NMA Group”). These provisions are discussed further below in the "Changes to the Delivery of Active and Postretirement Healthcare Benefits" section.

On September 25, 2015, the Central States Pension Fund ("CSPF") submitted a proposed pension rescue plan to the U.S. Department of Treasury under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 ("MPRA"). The CSPF plan proposes to make retirement benefit reductions to CSPF participants, including to the benefits of UPS employee participants retiring on or after January 1, 2008. In 2007, UPS fully funded its allocable share of the unfunded vested benefits in the CSPF when it was agreed that UPS could withdraw from the CSPF. Under a collective bargaining agreement with the IBT, UPS agreed to provide supplemental benefits under the UPS/IBT Full-Time Employee Pension Plan to offset the effect of certain benefit reductions by the CSPF applicable to UPS participants retiring on or after January 1, 2008. UPS is reviewing the CSPF’s proposed plan to evaluate the validity of the actions taken by the CSPF, the plan’s compliance with the MPRA and its potential impact on UPS’s funding obligations under the UPS/IBT Full-Time Employee Pension Plan.

We are not able to estimate a range of additional obligations, if any, or determine whether any such amounts are material, due to uncertainties regarding the validity of actions taken by the CSPF, incomplete information regarding the CSPF’s proposed benefit reductions, uncertainties regarding the process and standards under the MPRA, whether the proposed plan complies with the MPRA, the effect of various discount rates and other actuarial assumptions. We intend to vigorously challenge any proposed plan that does not fully comply with the law.

We have approximately 2,600 pilots who are employed under a collective bargaining agreement with the Independent Pilots Association ("IPA"), which became amendable at the end of 2011. The ongoing contract negotiations between UPS and the IPA are in mediation by the National Mediation Board.

Our airline mechanics are covered by a collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 2727, which became amendable November 1, 2013. In addition, approximately 3,100 of our auto and maintenance mechanics who are not employed under agreements with the Teamsters are employed under collective bargaining agreements with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (“IAM”) that will expire on July 31, 2019.

Changes to the Delivery of Active and Postretirement Healthcare Benefits

Prior to ratification, the NMA Group and Non-NMA Group employees received their healthcare benefits through UPS-sponsored active and postretirement health and welfare benefit plans. Effective June 1, 2014, we ceased providing healthcare benefits to active NMA Group employees through these UPS-sponsored benefit plans, and the responsibility for providing healthcare benefits for active employees was assumed by three separate multiemployer healthcare funds (the “Funds”). The responsibility for providing healthcare benefits for the active Non-NMA Group employees was also assumed by the Funds on various dates up to January 1, 2015, depending on the ratification date of the applicable collective bargaining agreement. We will make contributions to the Funds based on negotiated fixed hourly or monthly contribution rates for the duration of the NMA and other applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Additionally, the Funds assumed the obligation to provide postretirement healthcare benefits to the employees in the NMA Group who retire on or after January 1, 2014. The postretirement healthcare benefit obligation for the employees in the Non-NMA Group was assumed by the Funds for employees retiring on or after January 1, 2014 or January 1, 2015, depending on the applicable collective bargaining agreement. In exchange for the assumption of the obligation to provide postretirement healthcare benefits to the NMA Group and Non-NMA Group, we transferred cash totaling $2.271 billion to the Funds in the second quarter of 2014. UPS-sponsored health and welfare benefit plans retained responsibility for providing postretirement healthcare coverage for employees in the NMA Group who retired from UPS prior to January 1, 2014, and for employees in the Non-NMA Group who retired from UPS prior to the January 1, 2014 or January 1, 2015 effective date in the applicable collective bargaining agreement.

Accounting Impact of Health and Welfare Plan Changes

Income Statement Impact:

We recorded a pre-tax charge of $1.066 billion ($665 million after-tax) in the second quarter of 2014 for the health and welfare plan changes described above. The components of this charge, which were included in "compensation and benefits" expense in the statement of consolidated income, are as follows:


•	Partial Plan Curtailment: We recorded a $112 million pre-tax curtailment loss due to the elimination of future service benefit accruals. This curtailment loss represents the accelerated recognition of unamortized prior service costs.


•	Remeasurement of Postretirement Obligation: We recorded a $746 million pre-tax loss due to the remeasurement of the postretirement benefit obligations of the affected UPS-sponsored health and welfare benefit plans.


•	Settlement: We recorded a $208 million pre-tax settlement loss, which represents the recognition of unamortized actuarial losses associated with the postretirement obligation for the NMA Group.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Impact:

During the second quarter of 2014, as part of the health and welfare plan changes described previously, we transferred cash totaling $2.271 billion to the Funds, which was accounted for as a settlement of our postretirement benefit obligations. As of September 30, 2014, we had received approximately $563 million of cash tax benefits (through reduced U.S. Federal and state quarterly income tax payments) and we received the remaining cash tax benefits of approximately $291 million resulting from these payments over the remainder of 2014.

For NMA Group employees who retired prior to January 1, 2014 and remained with the UPS-sponsored health and welfare plans, the changes to the contributions, benefits and cost sharing provisions in these plans resulted in an increase in the postretirement benefit obligation, and a corresponding decrease in pre-tax AOCI, of $13 million upon ratification.