Ida Clough Ida Clough ( née Bulmer ) was a machinist at Baldwin ' s Casuals from 1978 to 1988 , and later at Underworld from 1997 to 1998 . A militant trade unionist , Ida always spoke up for her fellow workers . Her close friends were her colleagues Ivy Tilsley and Vera Duckworth . Biography . 1937 - 1988 : At Baldwin ' s Casuals . Ida Clough started working at denim - maker Baldwin ' s Casuals in Coronation Street sometime prior to April 1978 . She worked alongside Vera Duckworth and Ivy Tilsley and while not as aggressive as Vera or as firm as Ivy , Ida had elements of both and was often caught in the middle of their arguments . Ida was married and had at least two children . Her daughter Muriel worked at Baldwin ' s for a while in 1978 ; when Ida had her eye on the staff supervisor ' s job , she instructed Muriel to flirt with assistant manager Steve Fisher so that the management would favour her . From 1981 to 1982 , Ida ' s son Bernard worked as a van driver for the factory . A staunch trade unionist , Ida obtained the position of shop steward at the factory in 1980 , despite losing out to Ivy 14 - 17 in a staff vote . Ivy was already supervisor and , tired of Ida nagging her , agreed to relinquish the position of steward - but got her own back by criticising Ida ' s standard of work . Ida and Ivy ' s positions made them the usual candidates in dealing with Mike , and he would sometimes foist difficult decisions on them . When an outlet for the factory ' s produce closed down , Mike demanded that Ida and Ivy decide who to make redundant , but they avoided choosing names by getting the girls to agree to a three - day week . To sell the stock , Mike made Ida and Ivy man a stall but they were replaced by Vera and Elsie Tanner when they were disastrous in the job . Ida was known to make a stand on something she felt strongly about . In 1985 , she received an anonymous letter telling her that van driver Henry Wakefield was a strike - breaker and rallied the other girls against him when Mike refused to give him the sack . Eventually Mike ' s hand was forced as the machinists threatened to go on strike themselves otherwise . The staff didn ' t always support Ida however - in 1986 , they refused to walk out when Ida felt the factory was too cold to work in . Later that year , Ida decided to give up the position of steward as it was too stressful . In January 1988 , production at the factory was changed from denim to curtains , cutting the machinists ' wages by 20 % . Ida stood up to Mike , accusing him of making money at the workers ' expense , but Mike sacked her . Ida felt she ' d been fired with undue cause and told Mike she ' d sue him for unfair dismissal . She also tipped off the police about Mike ' s drink driving , although when he was caught and charged , he sacked Vera , thinking she ' d shopped him . When Ida heard about it , she came clean with Vera , who convinced Mike to take her back on if testified at the tribunal over Ida ' s sacking that Ida was a troublemaker . Reluctantly , Ida dropped the case . 1988 - 1998 : Later life . Ida remained friends with Ivy and Vera and attended Ivy and Don Brennan ' s wedding in June 1988 . She later appeared at Ivy ' s funeral in 1995 and went to see Vera in February 1996 when Vera thought she ' d seen Ivy ' s ghost . Two months later , Ida went for an interview for a position at Mike ' s new factory , Baldwin ' s Sportswear , and got a job as machinist although Mike warned her not to cause trouble . Ida thought she ' d be in line for any supervisory position going and was affronted when Mike made Sally Webster a manager , although she satisfied herself by making Sally ' s job more difficult . The business ran for less than a year , but Ida applied for another job at Mike ' s factory Underworld in 1997 , and was taken on by Angie Freeman , despite Mike not wanting her . There , Ida got on well with Janice Battersby and later Hayley Patterson . In August 1998 , Ida fought to get Hayley reinstated when Mike sacked her after finding out that she was a transsexual . Ida threatened Mike with an industrial tribunal but despite not wanting to be bullied , especially by Ida , Mike gave in and Hayley returned to work . Quotes . " Every picture tells a story " ( First line , about Steve Fisher ) " I told him to shut ' is gob . He ’ d got that much lip on ' im . " ( Final line )