Complaining about treatment of the employees is valid. The share buyback is pretty much orthogonal, outside of re-confirming that McD’s has been highly profitable.
Question: How many of us who complain about McD’s underpaying its staff tip heavily, or tip at all? I’ll be the first to admit that I still don’t tip reliably at fast food and take-out joints, though I’m tipping 20% on a regular basis at sit-down restaurants and for delivery. Like it or not (and I don’t!), American custom is that food service staff gets underpaid and they’re expected to make it up out of tips… but this is a category where people simply don’t tip.
