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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Janitors win $22.4 million against supermarket chains

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — More than 2,000 janitors who claimed they were underpaid for their work at three supermarket chains will share $22.4 million under a settlement approved Monday in federal court.

The payment goes to janitors who worked at Albertsons Inc., Ralphs Grocery Co. and Safeway Inc.’s Vons supermarkets between 1994 and 2001. They will receive between $4,000 and $10,000 apiece, union officials said.

In their 2002 lawsuit, the janitors alleged the supermarket chains supervised their work schedules and knew they were not being paid proper wages and benefits, but continued to employ them anyway through a staffing agency.

Building One Service Solutions, the contracting agency that employed them, has since filed for bankruptcy protection.

Some janitors claimed they were assigned to work seven days a week, sometimes 365 days a year, without any overtime pay. Others were not even paid minimum wage, the lawsuit claimed.

The supermarkets said they were not responsible for the janitors, but agreed three years ago to bring them up to union wages by hiring them directly or hiring union contractors.

Telephone messages left Monday for the grocery chains were not immediately returned.

Albertsons and Ralphs stores can be found nationwide, and Vons stores are located primarily on the West Coast.