LONGVIEW, Washington (From the Longview Daily News) -- KapStone has accepted an offer from its pulp and paper workers union to return to work, the union announced late Friday night.

Medical benefits were reportedly restored Saturday, the first union workers should be back on the job today (Monday 7 Sept), and all union workers should be working again by Thursday, said Greg Pallesen, vice president of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers.

The action ends a strike that began 27 Aug., but returning to work does not mean the union is ratifying the contract that KapStone imposed after declaring an impasse in negotiations last month. In addition to outstanding contract issues, a host of unfair labor practice complaints have yet to be resolved.

Pallesen declined to say why the 800 striking members are going back to work without a contract, saying he would not discuss union strategy. Had the company refused to accept the union's return to work offer, strikers would have been eligible for unemployment benefits, according to the union.

The union said it received KapStone's notice of acceptance of its back to work offer just minutes after a judge imposed a restraining order on union pickets that was well short of the restrictions the company had sought. It was uncertain late Friday night whether the restraining order had become moot because the strike is over, or whether it would remain in force if the union walks out again or resumes picketing at the mill gate.

The order does not limit where pickets can be or how many can assemble, but it holds KapStone accountable for those entering and exiting the Longview mill and the union accountable for those engaged in striking activity.

"Act like a human being," Cowlitz Superior Court Judge Stephen Warning said while imposing the injunction that he called "a set of rules."

Warning said he was incorporating the union's "do's and don't's" list into his order, which includes rules like no blocking traffic, no swarming, no confrontations, no foul language and no blocking entrances. Fines for any trouble that occurs will be "draconian," Warning said.

The biggest change ordered for strike behavior regards patrolling -- pickets crossing a street in front of vehicles. Warning's order says that only one picket at a time should be allowed to patrol in front of vehicles.

There will also be a 5 mph speed limit in place.

"Both sides have made some thoughtful efforts to control a difficult situation," Warning said before giving his order. "Obviously they haven't been entirely successful. ... In most circumstances 95 percent successful is enough. In this circumstance I don't think 95 percent is enough."

In a written statement, Local 153 president Kurt Gallow said the union was pleased with Warning's decision, saying it "recognizes some of the safety concerns we raised and would allow us to publicize our message.

At Friday's hearing, KapStone tried to paint an ugly picture of the union picketing that started with the strike on Aug. 27.

"This is lawlessness. This is violence," the company's lawyer, James Shore, said in closing arguments.

Shore said the company doesn't have a problem with the union's message, but it has a problem with the way it is being delivered.

Witnesses called by the company's lawyer testified to racial and sexist slurs, and one woman said she was followed for miles after leaving work.

But Local 153's lawyer argued that for its size, the strike has been "remarkably" peaceful.

"What we have are members trying to peacefully picket and patrol," Robert Lavitt said. "The union has been diligent in trying to monitor its own troops and trying to adhere to the guidelines, and when issues were brought to management they have acted upon them."

He pointed out that there have been no arrests or citations.

Sunday's incident in which a picket was struck by a contract worker's vehicle remains under investigation.

Keeping limits off of where pickets can stand and how many can stand -- as requested by KapStone -- was a win for the union.