Continuing on with my theme of the great Occupations of history, we have the Secession of the Plebs, an event that actually occurred several times in the early history of Republican Rome. The plebs or "plebeians" were the free citizens of ancient Rome, as distinct from the patricians or aristocratic class.
The social structure of the ancient world was highly stratified, so the plebs weren't actually the lowest class, since the slaves were below them. However, they were the 99% of ancient Rome, the ordinary common people without aristocratic privileges. At first, they had no political rights and no representation in the Senate, and the patricians used every tactic within their power to prevent them from gaining any.
The tactic the plebs developed to resist the patricians was to leave the city and occupy a nearby hill known as the Sacred Mountain, announcing that if their demands were not met they would simply found a new city on the hill and leave the patricians to fend for themselves. Every shop in the city was closed. The Roman Army, which was composed of plebs, deserted in large numbers and joined the occupation. With the city of Rome completely empty, the patricians were left with no one to produce the wealth on which their power depended. The result was that they were ultimately forced to offer concessions, including the creation of a new political position, the tribune of the plebs. Tribunes had the right to veto any legislation inimical to the interests of the common people. Perhaps an old idea whose time has come again?