Sorry, cihy, but the payment holiday was forced on them by Gordon Brown. No choice in the matter. What they were told then was the usual Govt BS about pensions.
No one outside the Civil Service thought it was a good idea. The Civil Service, of course, kept and still keep their Gold plated arrangements. Large Corporates did it as well as mid-size ones like BA.
As to "pension promises" most of the Private sector have broken them in the last few years. No one likes it.