> Considering wages are being held and passports are taken, I'd say the use of the word slave is justified.
Slavery has a very unambiguous definition -- people are treated as property where they're traded and sold, and forced to work. If passports are being collected and passed around in a slavery market then I'd agree with you, but as it stands there is no such evidence of that.
...as it stands there is no such evidence of that.
There have certainly been allegations of it, including on this comment page. Why should we assume the best possible interpretation of how Qatari projects might be staffed with manual labor? Based on the little I've learned, any assumptions I make are more likely to go in the other direction.
Considering wages are being held and passports are taken, I'd say the use of the word slave is justified.
>Most importantly, in the talks I've had with workers, the vast majority of them still are happy to have these jobs despite the conditions.
Survivor bias. The ones who haven't been killed or run away like working there (or are too scared to tell you otherwise).