World Business Quick Take

■ Labor
Microsoft to pay ex-workers
Microsoft Corp is expected to begin paying US$72 million this month to nearly 8,600 former contract workers who were part of a 1992 class-action lawsuit claiming they were denied benefits. The workers, "permatemps" who were hired during Microsoft's early growth spurt, won a US$97 million settlement in 2001 after a court found they were improperly restricted from the company stock-purchase plan. There have been years of delays and procedural haggling since the verdict, but on Friday, a federal judge overseeing the case approved a payout plan. After legal fees, processing costs and early payouts to a small group of plaintiffs -- along with interest the money earned since 2001 -- there's US$72 million left to distribute to the remaining class members. That is US$8,429 each, on average, before payroll taxes.

■ Entertainment
Paramount goes both ways
In a new twist to the battle over next-generation DVDs, US movie giant Paramount Home Entertainment said it will support Sony's Blu-ray format while also making DVDs for Toshiba's rival technology. Paramount will begin releasing content in North America, Japan and Europe suitable for the Blu-ray hardware after its launch, the unit of global media giant Viacom said in a statement. The US studio has previously announced its support for a rival format promoted by Toshiba, called HD DVD, while other Hollywood studios are split in their support for the two techno-logies. Paramount said it hoped to take advantage of Blu-ray technology in the PlayStation3, the latest model of the hugely success-ful games console which will be launched next year by Sony, a key promoter of Blu-ray.

■ Automobiles
Toyota plans expansion
Japan's top automaker Toyota will set up a new network of dealerships for mass sales in China in a bid to compete with Honda and other rivals that enjoy higher sales there, a report said yesterday. Toyota will establish the network as early as mid-next year with the aim of selling around 100,000 Camry sedans a year in China, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported without citing sources. It plans to open about 110 dealerships for sales of the popular sedan, bringing the total number of Toyota dealerships to 300 in China, including the existing networks for its luxury Crown and Lexus brands.

■ Aviation
BA may plan staff cuts
British Airways may cut 15 percent of its ground staff, or about 750 people, as part of its plan to consolidate operations at Heathrow Airport, executives briefed on the airline's plans said on Sunday. The airline now operates out of three terminals in Heathrow, but plans to move all of its check-in staff, baggage handlers and ground crews to a new terminal at the airport by early 2008. In April last year, British Airways said it planned to reduce employee costs by ?300 million a year (about US$525 million) by March next year. A month later, the airline delayed the projected completion of the plan by a year. Analysts expect the new chief executive, Willie Walsh, who took the job yesterday, to make cutting employee costs one of his top priorities. Any job cuts could be controversial. British Airways' ground staff walked off their jobs this summer, bringing flights to a halt, after several hundred employees were dismissed from the catering company that the airline uses.