Apparently, in the late 90's MH pilots were pressured to carry as little fuel as possible to save money. I presume this no longer happens with the majors.
Well it is certainly something the accountants are still aware of.
"Pressured" might not be the right word but where I am we get regular reminders about carrying extra fuel and we do get a regular personalised breakdown of how much "excess" fuel we decide to carry on each sector and whether it was actually used...
That said I've never had a decision to carry extra fuel decision queried.