Editing BASF (section)

===Post-WW2 20th century===
In the 1960s, production abroad was expanded and plants were built in [[Argentina]], [[Australia]], [[Belgium]], [[Brazil]], [[France]], [[India]], [[Italy]], [[Japan]], [[Mexico]], [[Spain]], [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]]. Following a change in corporate strategy in 1965, greater emphasis was placed on higher-value products such as coatings, [[pharmaceutical]]s, [[pesticides]] and fertilizers. Following [[German reunification]], BASF acquired a site in [[Schwarzheide]], [[Eastern germany|Eastern Germany]], on 25 October&nbsp;1990.

In 1968, BASF (together with [[Bayer AG]]) bought the German coatings company [[Herbol]]. BASF completely took over the Herbol branches in [[Cologne]] and [[Würzburg]] in 1970. Under new management, the renewal and expansion of the trademark continued. After an extensive reorganisation and an increasing international orientation of the coatings business, Herbol became part of the new founded Deco GmbH in 1997.

BASF bought the Wyandotte Chemical Company, and its Geismar, Louisiana chemical plant in the early 1970s.<ref name="auto">Richard Leonard and Zack Nauth. 1990. [https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1156&context=lrr Beating BASF: OCAW Busts Union-Buster] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141359/https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1156&context=lrr |date=12 June 2018 }}. ''Labor Research Review'' 1(16): 39–49.</ref> The plant produced plastics, herbicides, and antifreeze. BASF soon tried to operate union-free, having already reduced or eliminated union membership in several other US plants. Challenging the Geismar OCAW union resulted in a labor dispute that saw members locked out from 1984 to 1989, and eventually winning their case. A worker solidarity committee at BASF's headquarters plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany, took donations from German workers to support the American strikers and organized rallies and publicity in support. The dispute was the subject of an academic study.<ref>Timothy J. Minchin. 2003. ''Forging a Common Bond: Labor and Environmental Activism during the BASF Lockout''. University of Florida Press.</ref> The union also exposed major accidental releases of phosgene, toluene and other toxic gases, these being publicized in the local media and through a video, ''Out of Control''.<ref name="auto"/><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/RwDcbq0tMCc Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200413143534/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwDcbq0tMCc&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwDcbq0tMCc |title=Out of Control OCAW 1990 |last=markdcatlin |date=28 April 2018 |access-date=28 August 2018 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> A court threw out a $66,700 fine against BASF for five environmental violations as "too small".<ref name="auto"/>

BASF's European coatings business was taken over by [[AkzoNobel]] in 1999.