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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, Ralphs Grocery and Safeway's Vons supermarkets from 1994 to 2001. They will receive from $4,000 to $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. [more]