All-round answer to zero-hours conundrum

Very interesting comments from STILLERS, but I don't think his/her suggested measures would be enough to fix the problem. The university wouldn't agree to the three-month prior deadline as the whole point is that they assign AL hours after the clearing dust settles in order to plug gaps. They're also not interested in contract negotations in my experience (indeed, getting a contract at all before you start is usually impossible). Finally, I've tried the 'cultivating relationships with several institutions' approach and it just leaves you with a huge travel bill and no further ahead. Zero-hours contracts are unfair and must be legislated out of existence.