“Those of you here today are already doing so much, but if you can do just a little bit more, the effect will be magnified a hundred times,” he said. This means volunteering for organizing or political action campaigns or for local union activities to make the “culture of organizing” in the AFT a reality.

By engaging all members at the grass roots, he said, “we must turn nonmembers into members, members into activists and activists into leaders.”

LaCour urged AFT leaders and activists to use every activity of a local—from preparing for contract negotiations to political races—as an opportunity to get members involved.

He also urged delegates to jump into the Count Me In program, announced by AFT president Edward J. McElroy earlier in the convention, by completing pledge cards promising to participate in one or more union-building activities.

“Count Me In is more than a chant. It’s a commitment to member involvement,” LaCour said. “We need the entire union movement ready to accept the volunteer spirit.”