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The head of a powerful umbrella group of labor unions in the city is stepping down at the end of the month, according to the New York State AFL-CIO, which oversees the group.

In a move that futher galvanized Egypt's protesters, thousands of Egyptian labors union members held sit-ins and strikes on Wednesday that were expected to continue through the week. Union members have not called for President Hosni Mubarak to step down, instead airing their frustration with low wages and the Egyptian government in general.

Steven Greenhouse, New York Times labor and workplace correspondent and author of The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker, discusses his recent article on the unionization of carwash workers in Los Angeles.

A labor union has won a 15-month fight for the right to represent about 300 employees at an E-ZPass customer service center on Staten Island. The National Labor Relations Board announced late Wednesday that the employer's objections to the union election, held in May 2009, were without merit.

The New York Post has an entertaining front-page story today about a pretty healthy fireman who collects disability pension payments. For critics, it’s the latest example of pension abuse that’s driving the state broke.

In a scrum with reporters today, Andrew Cuomo was asked if he supports moving away from a defined-benefit system to a defined-contribution system.

Interestingly, Cuomo said “I don’t have a position on a specific option.”

Later, he said however costs are reduced, it’ll likely have to be an option that labor unions agree to, rather than something lawmakers pass over the union’s objections.

Here’s part of what Cuomo said on this topic today:

“We’re going to need to really explore ways to reduce the costs of the pensions.”

“There are a number of options that have been bandied about and part of the process is going to be putting everyone in a room and figuring out how do we actually reduce the costs.”

“I don’t have a position on a specific option, but the strategy is going to have to be to reduce the costs.”

“I think the best way to do this is to do it cooperatively; to do it mutually.”