How to join a union?

I started a job in August and somewhere in my documents was told I would be contacted by a union rep. to see if I want to join.  So far nothing and contacting HR about it has been fruitless as they just keep ignoring me.

I tried googling for my area and am still a bit confused. There doesn't seem to be one for my town persay.  Any suggestions? When you contact them do they personally come out to meet you? What can I expect from joining one?

Right now there is a lot of abuse at my work from higher ups to certain employees (including myself), not having breaks but having to record that we've had them and not paid for them, also not getting paid double time as stated on certain days and not getting paid for overtime.  I thought joining a union might help.

It depends what field you're working in.  If you feel you can say what kind of work you're doing, it will probably be clear from that which union would cover your workplace.

Or you could contact the Trade Union Congress.

https://www.tuc.org.uk/join-union

I tried googling for my area and am still a bit confused. There doesn't seem to be one for my town persay.

Unions are not organised by area/town... the union you join depends what trade you are in.

I would second the above recommendation to have a look at the TUC website.  They have a bit where you can fill in what type of work you do, etc, and they will then advise which union supports workers in that type of trade.

Each union has different benefits but they all do similar things in the workplace - if you look at this https://www.prospect.org.uk/advice_and_services/index?_ts=2463479 and scroll down you will see the functions Prospect performs.

If your workplace already has a union recognised then you should check with the local rep.

Thanks for the info.  Very busy week and just now getting back to the thread.  I will check out the tuc website, thank you.  I saw there was a table set outside in the common area of my work two days ago for a union.  I grabbed papers but have not gotten a chance to look at them. They look to be associated with my work. I'm a bit hesitant to join one associated with my job now though.  There have been stories from different employees about some corrupt stuff that have gone on at my work, high payment pay offs to keep people quiet as not to ruin the rep of the place, set ups from those personally involved etc. I am worried now that a union that is part of my job may not run so cleanly so to speak.  I will check out the tuc site.  Thanks!

Probably only one union will be accredited at your worksite, so if they had a table within the site, that will probably be the union that's available for you to join.  Googling the name of that union, and visiting their website, should give you a better idea of how they work and whether they've ever been in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

I've been a union member for many years, and at one time had very helpful support from my union rep when a difficult situation arose, so I'm glad that I joined. But a lot depends on the particular union and the rep and the circumstances, I expect.  Good luck.

There may be more than one union.  I have worked in a business where both Prospect and PCS represented different parts of the workforce.  Sometimes they worked together.

Generally the unions in the UK represent sectors of industry and you should find yours in here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trade_unions_in_the_United_Kingdom