The House of Representatives approved controversial “right to work” restrictions on public sector unions Tuesday, while more than 10,000 people protested in Lansing.

The Republican-majority House passed the bill 58-51 — the state Senate approved it last week. The bill will now go to Republican Governor Rick Snyder, who has promised to sign it into law.

The measure makes membership and payment of union dues voluntary for public sector employees.

Many school districts, including Warren Consolidated where 750 staff members called in absent, were closed today because of demonstration,s according to district superintendent Robert Livernois.

Taylor School District and Fitzgerald Public Schools were also closed today.

Snyder addressed the issue in an interview with Fox News.

“Too often the education system’s all about the adults,” Snyder told Fox News. “To see schools shutting down because of an issue like this is not appropriate in my view. This is about giving workers the freedom to choose whether their resources go to a union or not–and I actually don’t view this is anti-union.”

The Michigan workforce is approximately 17.5 percent unionized.

This is the first of two bills expected to be passed by the House. The second bill applies to private sector employees, including those within the auto industry.

If the second bill is passed, Michigan will become the 24th right-to-work state. The state is the fourth in the Midwest to be the center of a labor controversy since 2010, following Wisconsin and Ohio.

Legislators in Ohio reversed the referendum and litigation continues in Wisconsin.

Union leaders in Michigan say a “statutory initiative” is possible if opponents can collect enough signatures to equal 8 percent of the votes cast in the gubernatorial election. A veto referendum could be launched if signatures equal 5 percent of the votes cast.

A statutory initiative would place the right-to-work legislation on the ballot in November, when Snyder is up for reelection.

Oakland University partners with the American Association of University Professors, which is affected by the legislation.

“…I’m against Right to Work, because it weakens our ability to bargain for you. Other than that, administration holds all the cards. We want to give you the best education we can,” associate professor of English Annie Gilson said on Facebook. “We’d also like a living wage–we just took a net income cut in the last negotiation. I’ll be honest–you don’t want professors who have to take side jobs to be teaching your classes. They’re not going to be giving you all they’ve got if they can’t afford to do their jobs.”