Samuel Powell Claret was appointed as the general secretary of PWIF and Tom Bavin as its Director of Organisation.
[6] Until the foundation of PWIF Powell Claret had been in charge of Havana Office of the Special Plantations Committee of ICFTU.
[8] PWIF contracted W. Morgan of the London School of Economics to carry out a survey of the global tea industry.
[8][9] PWIF donated a Land Rover to TSPWU, in order to enable organising in remote areas.
[4][10] PWIF engaged in discussions with the Europe-based International Landworkers' Federation and at the sixth ICFTU world congress in Brussels in December 1959 a merger conference of PWIF and ILF was held, resulting in the foundation of the International Federation of Plantation and Agricultural Workers (IFPAW).