Washington, D.C. – A new television commercial will begin airing this week that advocates against raising the minimum wage to protect entry-level jobs for New Yorkers most in need of employment, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) announced on Monday. The ad will be broadcast on WNYT-TV, the NBC affiliate in Albany, where activists are preparing to rally on Tuesday in support of a dramatic increase to state and city minimum wages in New York.

Featured in the ad is Harriet Karr-McDonald, nationally recognized homeless advocate and cofounder of the Doe Fund, a nonprofit organization which transforms the lives of recently homeless and incarcerated men through education, work and private sector career training, and supportive services. In the ad, Ms. Karr-McDonald states: “The perception from those of us who work with the poorest people is that if you raise the minimum wage, businesses will not hire people. There is nothing we can afford less in America – nothing – than fewer jobs and less opportunity.”

Watch the ad here.

Michael Saltsman, research director of the Employment Policies Institute, released the following statement regarding the new ad’s message and the upcoming Albany rallies:

Protestors in Albany should keep in mind that the higher minimum wage they’re protesting for would put a job further out of reach for many of New York’s least-skilled jobseekers.

Entry-level jobs provide a valuable experience that puts employees on the path towards a career. Activists shouldn’t pull this important step out from underneath those who need it most.