Unite HERE, the union representing 2,800 hotel workers, on Thursday rejected an offer by the Los Angeles Hotel Employer’s Council that would increase wages by $1.90 per hour over five years for non-tipped employees. The offer called for no pay hikes for tipped workers and the increase would not have been retroactive to the April 16, 2004 end of the current contract.

“The workers just showed up to reject it,” said Hilda Delgado, a spokeswoman for the L.A. County Federation of Labor, which is assisting Unite HERE in the contentious talks. “It’s a total slap in the face.”

Hotel negotiators made the proposal on Monday, when both sides met for the first time since mid December.

The rejected proposal also called for full employer-paid health care for the duration of the contract, a concession by hotel operators that would be a step up for workers, who have been paying a $10-per-week premium since last July, when management declared in impasse in the negotiations.

Unite HERE is seeking a raise retroactive to April 2004 totaling $2.40 per hour for non-tipped employees and $1.05 for tipped workers wrapped in a three-year deal.

“With the union’s strategy of delaying and stalling, we can no longer consider retroactive pay,” said Fred Muir, a consultant to the Employer’s Council.

The union has largely but not completely backed off its original demand for a two-year contract that would line up expiration dates with Unite HERE chapters in many other cities, creating a national bargaining unit.