A strike has broken out in western Kazakhstan at a local subcontractor for American energy giant Chevron, Radio Free Europe reports. News of fresh unrest is sure to cause disquiet in Astana, coming six weeks after a long-standing industrial dispute in the western energy hub of Zhanaozen descended into fatal violence. Radio Free Europe said that around 200 workers employed in Atyrau Region by two companies affiliated to the Senimdi Kurylys firm, which carries out construction work for the Tengizchevroil oilfield operator (50 percent owned by Chevron), had downed tools on January 25, demanding salaries be almost doubled from 80,000-90,000 tenge ($540-$600) to 150,000 tenge ($1,000). EurasiaNet.org could not reach Senimdi Kurylys for comment.Tengiz is the largest oilfield in Kazakhstan. On January 29 Radio Free Europe reported that managers had offered a 25-percent raise, but workers continued to demand that pay be doubled. The report quoted unidentified activists as saying that management had ordered strikers to leave their company-provided hostels if they were not going to return to work. This labor dispute in the Zhylyoy district of Atyrau Region near the Caspian Sea is over 1,000 kilometers north of Zhanaozen by road, but the row echoes the strike that broke out in that town last May, which also centered on pay.This is not the first time the Senimdi Kurylys firm has made headlines in recent years: In 2006 a brawl broke out between its local staff and Turkish expats employed at the company.Nearly 200 people were injured in the fight, which was sparked by discontent among Kazakhstani employees unhappy at being paid less and treated differently from foreign staff.Meanwhile, there have also been reports of discontent over pay among miners in central Kazakhstan, but earlier this month the Kazakhmys copper company denied employees were planning to strike over the issue.