NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Boeing Co. rejected a request from federal mediators Thursday to resume contract negotiations with the International Association of Machinists, but the union said it is still prepared to put its plans to strike the company at 12:01 AM Monday on hold in hopes of a new round of talks.

A statement by the company said that the offer that rank-and-file IAM members were voting on Thursday was the best offer it could make.

The union at Boeing has agreed to a contract extension that would delay a strike scheduled for Monday, but the company has not yet responded to the request of federal mediators.

"There is nothing left to negotiate," the company's statement added. "Our position on the current offer remains unchanged; it is fair, it is competitive and it allows us to better support our customers."

The union's Web site and fliers handed out to rank-and-file as they voted urged the 25,000 members at Boeing to vote no on the contract offer and yes to approve a strike, saying that the union needed those votes "to give us a strong bargaining position." The union leadership had already unanimously recommended members reject the contract offer.

The company's chief negotiator, Jerry Calhoun, charged at a press conference Thursday afternoon in Seattle that the fliers and union statements tainted the vote taking place, and that the company was looking into what recourse it could take.

"We believe this move undermines the integrity of the collective bargaining process and denies IAM-represented employees the right to exercise their vote," said Calhoun.

Still Calhoun said the company has yet to decide whether or not to appear at the Sept. 4 talks in Washington, though he said it would be for political reasons and not to negotiate further with the union.

Union spokesman Matt Bates said that the union was waiting to hear from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which had made the request to extend the contract for 30 days, about Boeing's formal response to the request for talks. He said the union vote was continuing to take place, but that the ballots would be sealed uncounted until it was determined if talks were to resume. Plans to release the results of the strike vote and to actually start the strike on Monday were on hold for now, Bates said.

"Our intent is to comply with the director [of the FMCS]," Bates said. When asked if that meant that there would be no strike Monday, he said, "We've been asked not to do that. We were asked to show up for talks Sept. 4. We'll comply in full."

Calhoun also said the company had no intention of locking out union members when the contract expires at 12:01 AM Monday, and that the company has no desire to force a strike by union members.

"A strike is never good for anyone," he said. "The furthest thing from our wish list is to have a strike. No matter the outcome (of the rank and file votes), all of our employees will be welcome to work. We want to continue to build these fine airplanes and satisfy our customers."

In case of a strike, Calhoun said the company would wait to see if a significant number of union members crossed picket lines before it decided production levels, although he conceded, "The chances of that (continuing production) are slim."

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service issued a statement earlier Thursday along with its request for a contract extension quoting the agency's director, Peter Hurtgen, as saying, "We want to avoid a crippling job action in one of our most strategic industries."

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The company's offer would give 25,000 IAM members still working at Boeing an 8 percent signing bonus, with a 2 percent raise the second year and 2.5 percent raise the third year of the contract. The average IAM member has a base wage of $54,000. The company's offer also includes a 20 percent increase in pension benefits to $60 per month for every year of service with the company. But it did not include the job protection guarantees sought by the union.

Job security is the major issue in the talks, with the union seeking guarantees about employment level tied to future aircraft deliveries or revenue. Management insists it cannot give guarantees in the current business environment.

The aircraft maker, which has 25,000 members covered by the contract at the present time, had somewhere between 44,000 and 49,300 IAM jobs in 1999, at the time of the last contract, depending on whether company or union figures are used. The union said that about 10,000 jobs have been lost since Sept. 11, and that the company was already committed to outsourcing more work even before the terrorist attack, work the union argues should be done by Boeing employees.

Boeing saw demand for aircraft fall in the wake of Sept. 11, as airlines grounded older jets and cut schedules due to a drop in air travel. Boeing responded by announcing it would cut about 30,000 jobs due to reduced demand, cutting planned deliveries for 2002 by more than 25 percent as it delayed deliveries for the airlines. It said about 18,000 IAM members have been notified of layoffs, though it could not say how many had already left the company.

Company executives argued this week that the planes due for delivery this fall are those wanted by airlines, and that a strike would hurt Boeing's ability to compete with Airbus Industrie, the European aircraft maker that has been gaining market share at Boeing's expense. They have pushed for IAM members to ratify the company's final offer.

Ratification of the Boeing offer might have been an uphill battle for the company even before Thursday's events. Downsizing has left the company with a relatively senior work force, and the overwhelming majority have gone through at least one strike before in their career. The union struck Boeing for 69 days in 1995 and for 49 days in 1989. Still company officials had made a push in letters and public statements trying to convince members to accept the contract offer.

"I believe that our employees ought to be able to vote on the offer we've presented," Calhoun said Thursday. "I have faith and confidence in the employees of Boeing that they're going to speak their mind and they're going to express their wills."

Shares of Boeing (BA: Research, Estimates), a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, lost 36 cents to close Thursday trading at $37.17.