Achievement Award - Christopher Cupo
Growing up in the 1960's in downtown Jersey City, Christopher Cupo was exposed to a sense of community and the working-class at an early age. The Italian culture was a vibrant part of the city's fabric, the community was close knit, and the working-class people mostly found work in factories, construction and the trades. It was that early exposure that drove Christopher into two careers where he would proudly rise through the ranks and successfully complete in 2025.
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The first began in 1986 with LiUNA (Local 3, Local 325) as a Laborer/Shop Stewart and towards the end, a trusted hardworking business agent. The second began in 1990 with the Jersey City Board of Education as a custodian, which would quickly lead to him earning his boiler operator license, and later he would pursue a position as a plaster.
Christopher's core values were developed through his parents during his tender years. Both Christophers parents (Joan Guanci and John Cupo, Sr.) were hard working, believed in fighting for the rights of the working class, and had an open door and table policy. Christopher's father would find great joy in feeding the local kids, giving new meaning to the phrase open door, open table.
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It should be noted Christopher's educational background stopped after high school. A stance Christopher himself would later adopt and make a career with LiUNA and the Jersey City Board of Education. It is through theses values that Christopher developed such success in both careers which led to close working relationships with local and state officials for which he would stand up for the working class and ensure union work was always safe, valued, and treated with dignity and fairness.
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In his spare time, Christopher joined multiple organizations such as the Dante Alighieri Associations and the Hudson County Civic Association. As a member of both organizations Christopher has been able to give back to a community that had given so much to him. Christopher finds tremendous pride in giving back to the community by linking and encouraging young men and women of the middleclass in Hudson County to find a pathway working in the trades, to donating backpacks and toys to the less fortunate. If there is a need for a helping hand, Christopher is often the first to sign up and the last to leave.
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Christopher's success would not have been possible without the unwavering support of his late wife Anne Cupo and his daughters Erika and Brittney.