Greymouth Mayor Tony Kokshoorn is urging Solid Energy not to lay off anyone from the Spring Creek underground coal mine on the West Coast, because of a bad financial year.
Finance Minister, Bill English, said last week that the partial sale of Solid Energy is on hold until the state of the company's books improve.
Solid Energy has signalled that a big drop in the international coal price means it has to rethink its business.
Mr Kokshoorn said Mr English's announcement had sparked fears for the future of the Spring Creek mine.
He said coal prices and the economy are cyclical and the community has already been hit hard with the Pike River disaster.
