What? I live in canada where tipping culture is not as present as in the US but still very widespread and it's universally known (at least before the lockdowns) that working in restaurants is pretty much the best job you can get as long as you don't work in the kitchen. I've had close friends work in a wide range of restaurants/hotels, and even those working in very normal restaurants still made way more than any other job they could get.

I like my student job since it's outdoors, and I have other revenue streams, but you don't get any tips. So my colleagues usually jump at the occasion to work in a restaurant whenever they can even if our workplace is extremely pleasant to work at.

They want to keep tips going because not because it allows them to barely reach the minimum but because it makes them way more money. Otherwise, they'd advocate for removing the different minimum wages.

I'm actually puzzled, and I'm wondering if you have ever worked in a waitstaff job because I've never ever met a waiter being against tips.