You're seriously suggesting that the way we end tipping culture is to tip everyone even more for an indeterminate duration of time so the employees receiving those tips can... save up for strike funds to strike against tipped wages...?

If customers tipped so well that employees could make that kind of money, no one would be striking to end it. All you would have accomplished by this is twisting the arms of customers even harder than before. This is the exact opposite outcome everyone downvoting you is seeking.

If I'm being frank, I think the only way to truly rip off this bandage for good is to stop tipping, and squeezing employees. Make these jobs so unpalatable to work at that no one will willingly take one. Starve the employers that normalize subminimum wage of their labor pool, and either force them to adapt and offer living wages or drive their unviable business models out of business.

Of course, that solution is horrendously machiavellian, requiring that things get much worse before they get better. Far worse than any human with a drop of empathy would allow. So, yeah, while I do think it's the most realistic answer, it's obviously a bad answer.

The next best thing for customers to do is simply not give these places business, as you suggested in your edit. That's my strategy right now. I do tip at expected rates when I am in such places, because I'm not an asshole, but I minimize my trips to them as much as possible.

More unions sounds like a great idea! It's the less machiavellian and more organized version of the "drive the ones that don't comply out of business" idea. I'm all in. But it's unclear exactly how random passing customers should help create unions. All I can note is that expecting us to give more patronage to the business that has every incentive to bust the would-be union while also stopgapping one of the major issues that would drive the formation of the union in the first place by tipping harder is probably not the way.

It doesn't matter who I hurt by not tipping. It matters that I help shitty employers keep up a shitty system if I do. Employees are being hurt whether I tip or not. But my money will not go into some exploitative asshole's pocket, regardless of your appeals to emotion.

You're telling me, the customer, that I should help the employees unionize? Are you all up to date with the respective responsibilities of parties here? I believe it's the employees who should drive unionization, not customers who are entirely unable to do anything about it.

Also, was the suggestion that tips go into emergency funds meant seriously? Do you know how unions and emergency funds operate?

Most businesses don't advocate that they're exploiting their employees, so your suggestion to just "not go to stores that rely on it" falls a bit flat.