Washington ? Boeing Co. officials emerged from a 5 1/2-hour session with federal mediators Wednesday and said they “remain committed to their best and final” offer made to the machinists union last week.

“We’ll see where we go from here,” Boeing spokesman Jerry Calhoun said, refusing to take questions from reporters. Officials were returning to Seattle immediately.

Boeing’s contract with the International Association of Machinists expired Monday. A strike date has not been set, though union members had started voting to authorize one when federal mediators, fearing a strike and its impact on the already sluggish economy, urged both sides to come to Washington. The union members’ ballots were sealed.

Boeing officials met voluntarily with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, but committed only to explaining the contract proposal, not to reopening talks after three months of negotiations.

The morning was spent outlining “our business realities and the realities of our customers and our industry,” Calhoun said.

The company last week presented what it is calling its best and final offer, which included bonuses and raises. But it also angered the union because it contained rising health care costs and smaller-than-desired pension increases. The company also refused to guarantee jobs or job growth with production boosts.

“The machinists union is here to negotiate,” Dick Schneider, the union’s chief negotiator, said before meeting with mediators. “We’re here to represent our members the very best that we can.”

The union agreed to a 30-day contract extension last week. Schneider said negotiators would stay in Washington “until mediation tells us to go home.”

The union represents 25,000 workers in Washington state, Wichita, Kan., and Portland, Ore. With about 12,000 workers in Wichita, Boeing is the largest private employer in Kansas.