In this article, we examine two Swedish industrial teachers’ stories about their education, professional life and teaching. The stories are discussed in relation to the first paragraph of Article 23 of the UN Convention on Human Rights. The methodological starting point of our study is based on life stories and our analysis tools are taken from Bamberg (1997), who discusses how people position themselves in their stories. Our analysis shows three positionings. The first positioning appears in relation to workshop workers and to workshop work. The second positioning appears in relation to the industrial company and employer aspects. The third positioning appears in relation to employability. These three positions show that industry companies did not help industrial workers prevent occupational injuries and unemployment, and the industrial workers who were loyal to their employers did their best in the given set of circumstances. Vocational teachers educate Swedish children and young people to industrial workers, for the competitive industry companies in a neoliberal labour market, but we see a professional ethical dilemma in relation to the first paragraph of Article 23 in the way the industrial companies treats their industrial workers.