Public sector workers had asked for a 65 percent wage increase to combat a rising cost of living sparked by President Joyce Banda's tough economic reforms, including a devaluation of the local kwacha currency. 
Wafanyakati wa sekta ya umma waliomba ongezeko la mishahara kwa asilimia 65 ili kukabiliana na kupanda kwa gharama za maisha zilizotokana na hatua za kurekebisha hali ya uchumizilizochukuliwa na Rais Joyce Banda, ikiwa ni pamoja na kuishusha thamani ya kwacha (sarafu ya nchini Malawi).