The Plantation Workers International Federation (abbreviated PWIF) was an

international trade secretariat A global union federation (GUF) is an international federation of national trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups. Historically, such federations in the social democratic tradition described as international t ...

of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. PWIF was founded at the firth ICFTU world congress held in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

in July 1957. Samuel Powell Claret was appointed as the general secretary of PWIF and Tom Bavin as its Director of Organisation.
Seminar on the Role of Women Workers in the Plantation Economy
'. Role of Women Workers in the Plantation Economy. Colombo: Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, 1979. p. 50 PWIF was launched by ICFTU to organize plantation unions in the

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

.Docherty, J. C., and Jacobus Hermanus Antonius van der Velden.
Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor
'. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press, 2012. pp. 141-142 PWIF had its headquarters in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. The membership fee of PWIF was ten

pound Sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...

per 1,000 members. Moreover, the build-up of PWIF was supported by the International Solidarity Fund of ICFTU (in fact PWIF was one of the main recipients of this support during its short existence). The Interim Executive Committee of PWIF held its first meeting in Tunis on July 11, 1957. Until the foundation of PWIF Powell Claret had been in charge of

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Office of the Special Plantations Committee of ICFTU.
Congress Proceedings
'. International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. 1960. p. 73 Bavin on the other hand was a known ICFTU organiser of plantation unions in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

.
ILF Bulletin
'. International Landworkers' Federation. 1957. p. 18 With the launching of PWIF, the scope of Bavin's activity was expanded to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

.
Report on Activities - Postal, Telegraph and Telephone International
', Vol. 25, 1981–1984. p. 22 M.D. Barrett was seconded by the Commonwealth Section of the TUC International Department to support PWIF. PWIF contracted W. Morgan of the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

to carry out a survey of the global tea industry. Barrett's secondment was extended and in December 1958 he was sent to

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

as the PWIF representative there.
Report of Proceedings at the 91st Annual Trades Union Congress
'. Trades Union Congress. 1959. p. 210 In Tanganyika Barrett managed to organise a union, the Tanganyika Sisal and Plantation Workers Union (TSPWU).
Woodworkers, Painters & Buildingworkers Journal
'. 1960. p. 136 PWIF donated a

landrover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

to TSPWU, in order to enable organising in remote areas. In 1958 the

International Federation of Tobacco Workers The International Federation of Tobacco Workers (IFTW) was a global union federation bringing together unions representing workers involved in growing, processing or selling tobacco. History The idea of an international federation of tobacco worker ...

merged into PWIF. As of December 1958 PWIF claimed have 13 national affiliated, with a combined membership of 1,003,836.
Congress Proceedings
'. International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. 1960. p. 205 PWIF had offices and/or field representatives/organisers in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

(an Asia Office based in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, the British Cameroons (covering French Cameroons as well),

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. PWIF engaged in discussions with the Europe-based International Landworkers' Federation and at the sixth ICFTU world congress in

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 The International Federation of Plantation and Agricultural Workers (IFPAAW) was a global union federation bringing together unions representing land workers. History The federation was created on December 2, 1959, when the Plantation Workers In ...

(IFPAW). The merger congress of ILF-PWIF took place in Maison des Huit Heures at Place Fontainas.
Report of the Congress: And Report on Activities and Financial Report
'. International Landworkers' Federation. 1959. p. 15 Bavin became the general secretary of the new federation.

References

{{Authority control Trade unions established in 1957 Trade unions disestablished in 1959 International Confederation of Free Trade Unions Global union federations Defunct transnational trade unions