Are you a business or economics student, because you certainly sound like one.
Nope.
Incremental changes to the status quo are an economists solution
Economists don't typically venture into legislative efforts, which is exactly what I mentioned. And changing the law as I described would be a drastic change, and not an "incremental change."
They don't have the time or the energy to "lobby as individuals"
I bet a lot of them, specifically ones who only have one job, do have the time to write to their state rep or state senator because of how bad restaurants are with hours given to each employee. Writing one letter every couple weeks (1 page every 2 weeks) is very doable. Especially if they are suffering that badly in their current position.
let alone the resources or knowledge to sustain such a fight without the backing of a strong union
Look at all the Ds here. Do you honestly think if all of them got emails from servers telling them of the problems they face and possible solutions to those problems that none of them would care? All you need is one legislator to actually care, and they have the resources and knowledge to take on the fight.
You're just making excuses for people who clearly have no interest in making things better. I very much doubt any of them have even tried reaching out to their local officials. I very much doubt any of them have tried reaching out to their state officials. I doubt they even know the name of the state department that is supposed to be enforcing labor laws.
Who cares if they have the knowledge to sustain a fight, when they don't have the care to even want to attain the knowledge? Takes 30 minutes to write out an email describing what they go through and providing an idea for a solution or even saying "I have no idea how to fix this, but please help."
Do they not have 30 minutes? Can't send an email on a break? Can't send an email when going to the bathroom? Can't wake up 30 minutes early or go to bed 30 minutes later when such a little difference could make such a huge impact on their life? I call BS.