How do I hire Dan Heselton?

Submit a project inquiry at https://danheselton.com/start with your project type, budget, timeline, and goals. Email dan@danheselton.com works too. Typical reply: 24 to 48 business hours.

Where does Dan Heselton work?

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and remote clients across the United States.

What is the MCOFU Grievance Management App project?

Union grievance management is a formal, multi-step process. A member files a grievance. It gets reviewed at Step I. If unresolved it advances to Step II,…

Who was the client?

Massachusetts Correctional Officers Federated Union.

What stack or tools were used?

Custom Web App, Automated Email Routing, Multi-step Workflow

UnionSaaSCustom App

MCOFU Grievance Management App Paper grievances were slowing everything down. This replaced the paper.

MCOFU Grievance Management App project preview

Client

Massachusetts Correctional Officers Federated Union

Stack

Custom Web App, Automated Email Routing, Multi-step Workflow

The ask

Union grievance management is a formal, multi-step process. A member files a grievance. It gets reviewed at Step I. If unresolved it advances to Step II, escalated to the appropriate supervisor or department. If still unresolved it goes to Step III at the state level. Every step requires formal documentation, specific recipients, and a paper trail. Managing that across dozens of active grievances and multiple correctional institutions using email and physical paperwork breaks under volume. MCOFU needed a system that could handle the full grievance lifecycle: intake, tracking, step advancement, formal notification to management and the state, and status visibility for stewards.

A union grievance is a legal document. Every step has a required format, a required recipient, and a deadline. Getting any of that wrong costs the member.

The grievance management app is a custom web application built to match the specific workflow of Massachusetts correctional union grievances. Grievances are filed and logged with a unique identifier, grievant information, institution, and relevant step. The system generates and sends formal step notifications: Step II filings to facility supervisors and DOC personnel, Step III filings to state HR. Every notification arrives formatted for the recipient with the correct grievance number, grievant name, and institutional context. Status updates route to the assigned steward when a grievance advances.

The system handles class action grievances as well as individual ones. It has been in production and handling real grievances across multiple Massachusetts correctional institutions since launch. Step II and Step III filings generate and route automatically. Stewards get status notifications without chasing status by phone or email. The paper trail lives in the system rather than scattered across inboxes and filing cabinets.

Project Outcomes

Custom App

Built for Massachusetts union procedure

Not a generic case management tool adapted for union use. Built to match the specific legal structure of Massachusetts correctional grievance procedures, step by step.

Automation

Step notifications without manual work

Formal step notifications generate and route to the correct DOC and state HR recipients automatically. The union does not assemble and send paperwork by hand for each grievance that advances.

Accountability

Every grievance tracked end to end

Unique identifiers, status history, institutional context, and formal documentation for every grievance in the system. The paper trail is in one place and it is always current.

DRAFT: Quote from MCOFU leadership or a steward about what the grievance process looked like before the app versus now. Send testimonial questions and replace this before publishing.

DRAFT: Name and title, Massachusetts Correctional Officers Federated Union.

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