If cuts were spread evenly across all salary bands, that would imply about 10,000 layoffs, a much higher number of job losses than the CWA's figure.
Cuts of that magnitude would come as little surprise, however: AT&T slashed about 3,310 jobs in the first three months of the year its accounts show, and its workforce has continued to shrink by thousands every quarter for the last couple of years.
Data compiled by Light Reading shows staff numbers have fallen by around 35,500 since the end of 2017, when AT&T had about 280,000 employees including staff at Time Warner, the media giant it had agreed to buy in an $85 billion deal.
Excluding takeover activity, the CWA puts the cumulative number of job cuts at 41,128 over the last nine quarters.
A decision to cut about 4,700 technical, administrative and retail jobs would affect around 2% of AT&T's workforce at the end of March, when financial statements showed there were 244,490 employees at the firm.
The CWA reacted angrily in last night's statement. "If we are in a war to keep our economy going during this crisis, why is AT&T dismissing the troops?" said Chris Shelton, the CWA's president.
"AT&T could help lead the country toward recovery by partnering with its workforce to build next-generation networks. Instead the company is adding to the pain of the recession already underway."