Tradesmen and laborers working on state funded construction jobs are entitled by law to receive prevailing wages.
Those wages usually are equal to union wages for specific trades, like electricians.
But an NBC 10 I-Team investigation showed that over the past five years, the state labor department has investigated 139 complaints against companies who allegedly fail to pay their workers the higher, prevailing wages.
Fifty-one of those complaints resulted in penalties against numerous companies.
"It's is a very big problem," said IBEW member Al Durand. "Not only with electricians, you can go right on down the line -- iron workers, cement. It's pretty much standard in the industry."
NBC 10 I-Team reporter Jim Taricani talked with two former non-union electricians, who claimed they were kept in the dark by their employer and the state about the prevailing wages they were supposed to be getting while working on a state job.
"We called the state several times while we were working for that employer and we were told the rate that we saw on the sheets were the correct rates," electrician Eric Riendeau said. “Come to find out, they weren't."
Said electrician Kevin Linoue: "Looking back I see a lot of lies."
These two electricians, who eventually were paid for their lost wages, are talking about Energy Electric, which was fined twice for not paying prevailing wages.
An Energy Electric spokesperson said, "the state of Rhode Island gave us the wrong rate. I feel we've been violated by the state of Rhode Island."
In another case involving the DBI company, one employee was paid more than $100,000 in back wages because the company failed to pay the prevailing wage.
Union officials claim that the state needs to do a better job of monitoring prevailing wage jobs. The state only has two investigators to handle all the state-funded construction jobs.
But officials at the state labor department said they're doing a great job.
"I think we're doing an excellent job," said Ron D'Ambruoso of the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.
Said Durand: "I fault the administration from the top right down to the director. They should take a real good look at some of these investigators and give them the resources they need to do their job."
Commenting on the prevailing wages, a spokesman for Gov. Don Carcieri said, "The governor supports strong enforcement of the state's prevailing wage laws. (He) believes the department of labor has done a good job with the resources it currently has."