Sept 12 (Reuters) - Amazon.com ( AMZN ) said on Thursday

it will increase the compensation to its Delivery Service

Partners (DSP) through a $660 million investment over the next

year.

Amazon's ( AMZN ) package delivery is done mostly by DSPs, small

businesses that employ drivers and set their salaries.

As a result of the investment, Amazon ( AMZN ) expects the

national average earnings for drivers to increase by at least

another $1.50 to nearly $22 per hour, depending on the location,

which represents a 7% increase over last year.

The funding is part of an incremental investment of over

$2.1 billion in the DSP program, bringing its total investment

to $12.3 billion over the last six years.

Amazon ( AMZN ) will also launch an app for the DSP's drivers,

where they will be able to access up to 50% of accrued wages

before their payday.

The ecommerce giant said it will use AI to identify risk

characteristics for 200 million roads and provide 18 million

safety cues for drivers by the end of this year.

Amazon's ( AMZN ) investments come days after a National Labor

Relations Board prosecutor concluded that the company should be

held jointly liable with a contractor for allegedly using

unlawful tactics to discourage delivery drivers in Atlanta from

unionizing.

Another regional director from the NLRB in Los Angeles

concluded that Amazon ( AMZN ) should be considered a so-called "joint

employer" of a separate contractor's employees and thus be

obliged to negotiate with unions.

The company, however, has said in the past that it does

not exert enough control over contractors' drivers to be

considered their joint employer.