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url: https://crimethinc.com/2020/03/31/the-ex-worker-75-rent-strike-how-to-prepare-for-aprils-rentstrike-analysis-of-rent-strikes-past

lang: en
title: The Ex-Worker #75: Rent Strike!
subtitle: How to prepare for April’s #RentStrike & analysis of rent strikes past
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summary: 
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[**Listen here.**](https://crimethinc.com/podcasts/the-ex-worker/episodes/75) This April 1st, people around the world will [go on strike and refuse to pay rent](https://sub.media/video/keep-your-rent). In the midst of the pandemic, we are confronted not only with a virus, but with the murderous logic of the market. Before COVID-19 hit, millions already struggled to afford rent, mortgage, or loan payments; today, all but the wealthiest face ruin, caught between either sickness or poverty. It’s inevitable that most of us will not be able to pay the bills next month—but what we do about it is up to us. This episode offers tools, examples, and history to support you and your neighbors in withdrawing your support from the regime of rent and debt and to devote what resources you have to nourishing yourself and your community through mutual aid. We’ll share excerpts from CrimethInc. texts promoting the strike, discuss the [5 Demands](https://5demands.global) framework and [anarchist critiques of it](https://crimethinc.com/demands), work through concrete tactical suggestions from a [rent strike tool kit](https://5demands.global/toolkit/), present an [invitation to a strike](https://crimethinc.com/2020/03/27/immunity-for-all-invitation-to-a-strike-a-poster-and-a-call-for-collective-self-defense) from the West Coast and an [interview with the radical housing collective Station 40](https://crimethinc.com/2020/03/19/on-rent-strike-against-gentrification-and-the-pandemic-an-interview-with-residents-of-station-40-in-san-francisco), and offer a condensed version of [an inspiring history of rent strikes around the world](https://crimethinc.com/2020/03/30/rent-strike-a-strategic-appraisal-of-rent-strikes-throughout-history-and-today) over the past century.