The talks reached a stalemate after a demand by the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa) for a one-year deal for all workers across the automotive value chain was turned down by the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI), which wants to commit the workers to a three-year pact.The current three-year agreement ends on Aug. 31."I can confirm that Numsa has declared a dispute with all the employer parties in the Motor Industry Bargaining Council," Jan Schoeman, chief negotiator for the employers, told Reuters."We cannot agree to a 20 percent wage hike over three years, so we will go to mediation if we have to. We do not expect any rolling strike action if no agreement is reached then," he said, referring to a work stoppage by the union three years ago.Acting Numsa spokesman Patrick Craven said a facilitation process with the independent Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) was scheduled for July 13."We are determined not to accept the sort of offers which are virtually nothing and hope the employers will come to their senses," Craven said of efforts to break the impasse.A strike may be called if the CCMA talks fail, weeks before local elections in August where the ruling African National Congress party is under pressure due to a struggling economy.The militant Numsa, which represents around 100,000 workers in the auto retail sector, held a month-long strike there after pay talks deadlocked in 2013, disrupting assembly lines at car plants and bruising investor sentiment.Numsa wants a 20 percent wage hike, as well as better housing and medical aid perks, as Africa's most industrialised country is struggling to avoid recession.The central bank and national treasury, both expecting below 1 percent economic growth for 2016, have cited above inflation wage settlements as worrying for an economy hit hard by a global commodity downturn affecting its mining and manufacturing exports...