On this day, 6 March 1922, a wave of rent strikes in Veracruz, Mexico, was triggered when sex workers barricaded a street with their rented mattresses, chairs and other furniture, with the intention of starting a giant bonfire. Police quelled the action at the last minute, but news of the plan spread and sparked tenant organisation across the city.
The tenants’ union, mostly organised by women, grew rapidly and began launching rent strikes, leading to 30,000 people eventually withholding rent. The movement began by demanding housing reform, but as property owners, the media, police, soldiers and the state tried to stop the strike, the tenants’ demands escalated to include the abolition of private property, the emancipation of the working class and the abolition of the state.
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