The November Revolution marked a turning point for Aufhäuser. Despite the urging of Hellmut von Gerlach to join the left-liberal German Democratic Party, he chose to join the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) on 1 November. Here he called for the socialisation of industry, and denounced the SPD's plans for the election of a National Assembly, claiming it would undermine the labour movement by transferring the workers' newly-won power to the state. As workers' and soldiers' councils began to take power throughout the country in November, Aufhäuser worked with the AfA to bring white-collar workers into the movement. On the 17th, a group of radical salaried unions in Berlin organised a demonstration of 20,000 employees who expressed their support for the revolution and solidarity with the workers.
