Warehouse Workers for Justice will hold a public candidate forum for individuals seeking state office Thursday at the Sacred Heart Church in Joliet.

Among the candidates are State Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi, a Democrat from Joliet, and his challenger in the District 43 state Senate race, Cedra Crenshaw, a Bolingbrook Republican.

Abraham T. Mwaura, spokesman for Warehouse Workers for Justice, said the forum will focus on working conditions at the more than 150 warehouses in Will County and southern Cook County. He said candidates will be asked to address a proposal to amend a state law that gives tax breaks to intermodal facilities. Mwaura said he would like stipulations attached to those tax breaks, which include limits on the number of temporary workers.

Will County has the nation’s largest inland port, where freight trains from the West Coast and southern states converge and armies of trucks transport the goods to distribution centers throughout the Midwest. Warehouse Workers for Justice estimates there are about 30,000 workers in the Chicago area and many of them are only temporary and are not paid sufficient wages, Mwaura said.

Other candidates scheduled to attend the forum are Republican Adam Baumgartner, who is running against incumbent Toi Hutchinson in the state Senate District 40 race; State Rep. Renee Kosel, R-New Lenox; Dennis Grosskopf, a Shorewood Democrat vying for the District 84 state representative race; and state Rep. Jack McGuier, a Joliet Democrat  who represents the 86th House District.

John Unhoch and Emily McCasey have not confirmed their attendance and the following candidates declined the invitation, according to organization: Hutchinson, Tom Cross, Maripat Oliver, Ryan Eggert

The forum starts at 7 p.m. Thursday at Sacred Heart Church, 329 S. Ottawa Street, Joliet.