TORONTO - The Ontario government is set to hold an emergency session today to introduce legislation aimed at preventing a strike at one of the province's major power utilities.

The Progressive Conservatives are reconvening the legislature this afternoon -- just over a week after lawmakers rose for their winter break -- to table the bill that would stop job action by about 6,000 workers at Ontario Power Generation.

The emergency session was announced in a statement Friday evening by Government House Leader Todd Smith.

The notice of a strike also came on Friday, a day after members of the Power Workers' Union rejected a contract offer from OPG, putting them in a legal strike position as of Dec. 26.

Earlier Friday, Energy Minister Greg Rickford said the government was prepared to take any steps necessary to safeguard the province's power supply.

The organization that manages Ontario's power system said in a statement Friday that a strike at OPG would put the system's reliability at risk.