Good Jobs Nation, an advocacy organization, filed a complaint to the Labor Department charging that contractors working at the National Zoo, the Department of Education and the National Park Service are not receiving the legal minimum wage — a violation of the Service Contract Act.

Good Jobs Nations alleges that groundskeepers at the National Zoo are getting a median of $9.50 an hour, instead of $13.07; that janitors working in the Department of Education are receiving as little as $9.10 an hour, instead of $11.83 plus $4.02 in benefits; and that many bus drivers working for the National Park Service are receiving $16.60 an hour when the applicable wage is $20.85 an hour, in addition to paid holidays and fringe benefits.

The advocacy group also released a report finding that as unions have declined, so have federal contract wage rates. The report also highlights the legal loopholes that allow federal contractors to pay workers less than the minimum wage and criticizes the Labor Department for weak federal contract wage law enforcement.

In addition, Good Jobs Nation is calling on the President to issue a Model Employer Executive Order, which would ask the government to provide preference to employers who provide workers with a living wage, regular schedules and other benefits when awarding federal contracts.

Last year the President signed the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Act, requiring federal contractors to disclose labor law violations. The executive order also provides agencies with more guidance on how to consider labor violations when awarding federal contracts. The executive order has yet to be implemented.

— Marianne LeVine