CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Legal Newsline) - The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is offering free legal aid to workers who may be ordered off their jobs or prevented to work because they refrain from union membership.

The foundation is reacting to reports in the blog Red State.com that non-union workers may be prevented from working at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in August.

Nonunion workers at Time Warner Cable Arena, local hotels, and elsewhere may lose work in favor of unionized workers in the lead up to and during the convention, according to Red State, which cited two examples.

One was that of John Monteith who works for Heritage Printing and Graphics. Monteith said that when he contacted a member of the host committee he was told, "We cannot accept bids unless they are from companies that are unionized."

The other was a project management firm, Webb Partners. The firm's owner, Sherwood Webb, said he heard directly, "They (DNC Host Committee) said we will be using union labor."

Discriminating against workers who exercise their right to refrain from union membership is a violation of North Carolina's Right to Work law and the federal National Labor Relations Act.

"It appears Big Labor officials and the Democratic Party are preparing to commit violations of North Carolina's popular Right to Work law and federal law," said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation.

"Despite Democratic officials' rhetoric about jobs, it appears they plan to force workers off the job to appease their Big Labor benefactors."

Charlotte's mayor, Anthony Foxx, a Democrat, has denied the allegations.

Meanwhile the Fox News affiliate in Charlotte reported that the Committee for Charlotte 2012 Executive Director Dan Murrey also denies the accusation.

Murrey said in an email, "The notion that the Host Committee will only allow unionized firms to bid is categorically untrue."