PLASU: ASUU Rejects Meager EAA Payment, Demands Fair Compensation!

The Plateau State University (PLASU) branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has raised concerns about the administration’s decision to unilaterally impose a minimal amount as the mainstream Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) within the academic staff salaries without reaching a consensus with the union.

PLASU stated in a release on Thursday, authored by its chairman, Dr. Monday Hassan Zitta, and secretary, Lomka Iliya Kopdiya, that this issue has now become a significant point of contention that might lead to a strike.

The release clarified that earned academic allowances are generally calculated and disbursed after an academic session, based on the staff-to-student ratio, after a period of teaching, assessment, and supervisory duties for projects.

In 2021, following a strike, the previous Plateau State Government substantially increased the university’s monthly funding to facilitate the payment of EAA.

“Unfortunately, the university management opted to allocate the additional funding for other uses.

“To address the delays and frustrations, the union, aware of the potential drawbacks of such a proposal, generously agreed to have EAA incorporated into monthly salaries instead of calculated sessionally,” added PLASU.

The statement emphasized that what the union advocates for has been successfully implemented in other state universities, with terms that both the administration and the union find acceptable.

The statement criticized the PLASU, noting that instead of expressing gratitude and recognizing the union’s initiative, the university authorities chose to disregard the union’s communications on the subject and hastily imposed a minimal amount that is significantly lower than what other state universities have assigned for mainstreamed EAA in their salaries.

The union requests that the administration either revert to the previous sessional computation method or consider and pay a fair and justifiable amount as recommended by the union, as outlined in the Professor Bulus Gyang Committee’s report.

They also demand that the institution pay the remaining 50 percent of the 2023/2024 EAA and address all pending issues in the prior agreement made between the union and the Plateau State Government.