They're not slaves. I mean maybe they're being paid well to work on Tron, who knows. But if they really want to work on Steem they can always quit that job. The Steem blockchain has its own funding system via SPS which as of today is running about $800K/year, probably enough to pay devs.
RE: STEEM is still not Steemit, even if Tron buys Steemit.