Any workman or apprentice employed by the contractor or any subcontractor who is paid less than the stipulated prevailing hourly wage rates for work done under the contract shall have a right of action to recover the difference between the amounts so paid and the wage rates provided by the contract, and an action brought to recover same shall be deemed to be a suit for wages, and any and all judgments entered therein shall have the same force and effect as other judgments for wages. It shall not be a defense to such an action that the underpayments were received by said workman or apprentice without protests, either oral or in writing, against the amount thereof, and the lack or failure of protest shall not be a bar to recovery of the difference between the amounts paid and the wage rates provided by the contract.