But even if the SAG-AFTRA board votes to adopt the convention delegates' resolution decision to lower their full retirement age, in the end it will be up to the pension plan's trustees.

But it doesn't look good.

The report quotes SAG board minutes that indicate ongoing debate about the issue since the 1980s, when it was noted that "there are in the stunt community a lot of performers who have reached their late 40s and 50s who are unable to work anymore because of the accumulation of injuries over the years—not one specific traumatic event that has made them disabled, but an accumulation over the years that has been enough to make it very difficult for them to work, or not work at all. And that is why you had the stunt community lobby over the years to allow stunt performers to retire at age 55 with full pension, and which has never been adopted."

In 1997 there was more debate about the full retirement age, with the then-CEO of the SAG Pension & Health Plans, Bruce Dow, replying that the trustees argued against it lest it open the door for other groups of performers to claim retirement early—such as women faced with limited roles as they aged and child actors also facing shortened careers.

And that, the trustees argued, would cost the plan too much money.

While stunt performers are eligible for a full disability pension if they are under 65 and can prove that they are totally disabled, or an occupational disability pension if they are younger than 65 and can prove that their disability occurred during the course of employment covered by the Plan, including a disability caused by an injury that occurred during production, at an audition or rehearsal, or during travel to or from location, the report says, not everyone who applies is granted an occupational disability pension.