[THE INVESTOR] The wage negotiations between Hyundai Motor workers and management have collapsed paving the way for a prolonged strike, the firm’s labor union said on July 4.

The union made the announcement at its meeting with the management at Ulsan, home to Hyundai’s main assembly plants, located some 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The union is expected to call for mediation with a state-run labor body to try to work out a wage deal with the management.

The company did not make any immediate reaction.

Hyundai Motor forms the world’s fifth-largest automaker together with its smaller sister company Kia Motors.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)