Politico revealed the investigation last week, reporting that the complaints came from “glaziers” charged with installing shower doors in suites of the $200 million hotel, which is expected to be completed this fall. The Craftsmen Group declined comment.

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The inquiry doesn’t target the Trump Organization (which declined comment), but it does reflect a problem with illegal underpayment of workers that advocates say has become widespread in a post-recession building boom in D.C.

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All construction projects backed by the District or federal government require that workers earn “prevailing wages” according to the Davis-Bacon, meaning every worker this year must be paid at least $10.15 per hour.

Higher wages are required for skilled positions, including $27.25 for tile setters, $39.67 for plumbers and $28.61 for glaziers on projects of $2 million or more.

But Stephen Courtien, a member of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and a field representative for the North America’s Building Trades Unions (CHOICE), said violations remain rampant, outpacing local and federal efforts to identify contractors that are stiffing workers.

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“It’s pretty prevalent throughout the city on construction and it’s just total lack of enforcement,” Courtien said. “Davis-Bacon is one thing, but we have a lot of instances where people aren’t being paid overtime. Some are being paid $5 and hour, and we have other people who aren’t being paid at all.”

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Still federal enforcement has identified unpaid wages to hundreds of workers locally. Last fiscal year, the Labor Department found nearly $1 million in back wages owed to almost 400 employees on D.C. projects after it identified violations to federal rules including Davis-Bacon.

The department found nearly $3.5 million in owed back wages for 2,400 employees in Maryland and $11.3 million in wages for some 6,000 employees in Virginia.

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“The issue with people getting paid the prevailing wages is something we’ve heard is a big problem on that site, but it’s also a huge problem all over the city,” said Ari Schwartz, lead organizer with D.C. Jobs with Justice, a D.C. advocacy group.



The Trump hotel constitutes a government construction project because even though the project will be privately operated, the federal government owns the property and is leasing it to the Trump Organization for 60 years.

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The lease specifies that companies working on the project “comply with all provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act” as if they were directly contracting with the government.

Other times the definition of a government project is hazier, such as when the Labor Department attempted to apply Davis-Bacon to CityCenterDC, the mixed-use downtown project on District-owned land. The courts ultimately disagreed, a decision affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. in April.

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Schwartz and others said that the larger difficulty for enforcement is persuading workers to come forward with their complaints.

A local attorney who brings wage cases with the government, Brian J. Markovitz of Joseph Greenwald and Laake, said he wouldn’t be surprised if there are workers on half of local construction projects who aren’t being paid required wages.



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He said many are afraid to say anything for fear of reprisal from their employers.

“When people call me and tell me they were paid properly, I’m actually surprised,” Markovitz said. “In the industry [violations] are commonplace. The population we’re talking about is largely Hispanic and English is a second language for a lot of them. Taking advantage of them is commonplace.”